Daniels Trading

Tuesday saw West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures lose value as the U.S. dollar gained in strength ahead of key congressional testimony scheduled for Wednesday in the U.S. capital, Bloomberg reports.

Investors and analysts are set to closely listen to U.S. Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke's testimony on Wednesday as he is likely to discuss the prospects of quantitative easing. Speculation has been swirling that the economy-spurring measure is likely to draw down, which has been benefiting the value and market performance of the U.S. dollar as of late.

"The market is so used to liquidity these days that people are scared about QE coming to an end," analyst Amrita Sen with Energy Aspects told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

At 11:21 a.m. on Tuesday, WTI crude oil futures fell 0.95 percent, a 92-cent dive to $95.79 per barrel. Brent crude oil futures dropped 0.94 percent, a 99-cent drop to $103.81 per barrel.

Weekly inventory reports are set to be released later this week, according to The Wall Street Journal. That data also impacts the performance of the energy commodity.

The Canadian dollar edged down in value on Tuesday against the world's reserve currency amid speculation that the top banker in the U.S. will signal policy changes when delivering congressional testimony on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg.

The spoken word of Ben Bernanke with the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to draw increased amounts of attention from investors and analysts as conjecture mounts that quantitative easing programs to spur the globe's largest economy will taper. The U.S. dollar has been gaining in value in recent days.

The loonie is "really following the flow, which sees the U.S. dollar stronger across the board," foreign exchange managing director Jack Spitz with National Bank of Canada in Toronto told Bloomberg on Tuesday, noting the greenback is advancing amid "the anticipation that QE tapering is in the cards."

Tuesday marks the first day of trade this week in Canada, which on Monday celebrated Victoria Day. Canada and the U.S. share a strong commerce relationship, making the Canadian dollar sensitive to economic and financial developments in the U.S.

The loonie also slipped against most of its major counterpart currencies while its top export, crude oil, struggled on commodity markets, according to Bloomberg.

The Japanese yen resumed its downward dive on Tuesday against the U.S. dollar after commentary by the nation's economy minister sought to clarify remarks from this past weekend, Bloomberg reports.

The yen advanced on Monday after economy minister Akira Amari said over the weekend that the value of the yen had been corrected. But on Tuesday the official with the globe's third-biggest economy would not say when the monetary unit would stop losing value and proving to be harmful to Japanese society.

"The weekend comments were misread. He didn't say it in the way it was reported in English," a Japanese market participant told Reuters on Tuesday. "But the recent strength (of the dollar) is faster than expected, that's why I think they're trying to bring it down a bit, but the basic stance is that they prefer to maintain a weakening policy in the long term."

The Japanese  yen surged 0.9 percent on Monday against the U.S. dollar, marking its biggest advance since April 26.

Reuters reports a survey it administered revealed about 50 percent of companies in the Pacific Rim nation said the monetary unit has lost enough of its value.

Monday saw the English pound climb from its six-week depth against the world's reserve currency after data noted U.K. home sellers boosted asking prices to record levels, Bloomberg reports.

The pound also rose in the aftermath of Mervyn King with the Bank of England noting this past weekend that the regional economy is recovering. As King prepares to waltz into retirement in the end of June, he also praised successor Mark Carney, who presently is governor of the Bank of Canada.

"I think everyone will admire what he will achieve," King told Sky News of Carney, according to Reuters. "He will work with the rest of the Monetary Policy Committee. It's not a one-man show. There is a very strong team of people here in the Bank of England which I have built up over 20 years."

The pound has risen for the third trading session in the past four days against the U.S. dollar.

But King did issue a warning to his successor, telling him not to publicize how long interest rates will remain low, Reuters reports.

The Chinese yuan on Monday pushed toward its highest value in 19 years against the world's reserve currency as confidence grew regarding inflows of capital spurring appreciation of the monetary unit, Bloomberg reports.

Prices of new homes in 68 of 70 Chinese cities increased during April, statistical data released by the government of China on Sunday noted. The People's Bank of China minimally changed the reference rate.

"Such a strong midpoint really surprised the market given the dollar's strength in global markets," a trader with a Chinese commercial bank in Shanghai told The Economic Times on Monday. "It delivered a clear signal that the central bank would guide the yuan to appreciate further in the near term, although the market is not certain how much more the yuan could rise."

The Asian nation's foreign-exchange reserves, considered to the world's largest, advanced to $131 billion during the first quarter of the year, pushing toward a record value of $3.44 trillion.

Though the U.S. dollar advanced strongly overnight from Sunday to Monday, The Economic Times reports slight changes to the daily reference rate by the central bank was surprising.

The Japanese yen advanced against the U.S. dollar on Monday, climbing from its four-and-a-half year trough against its cross-Pacific rival after the economy minister of the globe's third-largest economy suggested monetary stimulus policies soon might be closing, Reuters reports.

Akira Amari, with the administration of prime minister Shinzo Abe, said further monetary stimulus might prove to be harmful to the economy of the Asian nation.

"It's being said excessive yen gains have been corrected a lot," the economy minister said during an appearance on the public broadcaster NHK on Sunday, according to Bloomberg. "If the yen extends losses a lot, people's lives will be negatively affected. It's our job to minimize that."

The central bank of Japan begins two days of policy meetings on Tuesday, and two key themes of discussion are forecast to be policy issues and bond buying.

Elected in December 2012, Abe also campaigned under the premise that he would implement monetary easing programs to spur Japan's economy. Since he was elected, the yen has lost about 21 percent of its value against the world's reserve currency.

The Canadian dollar on Friday fell to its lowest value in two months against its southerly rival, Bloomberg reports.

Economic data indicated the nation's annual inflation rate fell to its most laggardly pace in more than three years, boosting confidence that the central bank is preparing to cut interest rates. The loonie slumped against all 16 of its top counterparts as a consequence of consumer price index data indicating a climb of 0.4 percent in April as compared to the same period last year.

"There is certainly a smattering of comments now contemplating why isn't the central bank contemplating lowering rates," head analyst Dean Popplewell with online currency-trading firm Oanda Corp. in Toronto told the news source on Friday, prior to the report's release. "Policy-wise, we're still very much walking a tightrope."

The Bank of Canada is set to see a changing of the guard. New governor Stephen Poloz is poised to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Mark Carney, who will do the same job with the Bank of England.

The inflation data released by the nation was markedly lower than projections indicated, according to Reuters.