CURRENCIES: Ruble, Loonie Driven Lower After OPEC Keeps Output Target

The currencies of Russia, Norway and Canada dropped against the U.S. dollar, with the oil-producing countries feeling the weight of a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries not to cut its production target.

The 12-country cartel said it would stick with its current production target of 30 million barrels a day. Leading up to the meeting in Vienna, there was speculation in the markets that the organization would cut production in an effort to stop a recent drop in global oil prices.

The decision to keep the target was made “in the interest of restoring market equilibrium,” said OPEC in a statement.

U.S. crude futures (CLF5) and Brent crude futures each tumbled more than 7% after the decision. The Russian ruble (USDRUB) was also swept lower, with the greenback buying 48.795 rubles, more than the 47.384 rubles it bought late Wednesday in North American trade.

The dollar fetched 6.939 Norwegian krone (USDNOK), up from 5.979 krone on Wednesday. “Norway derives nearly 70% of its exports from crude oil and petroleum products, representing 20% of GDP, so changes in the price of oil have a massive impact on the nordic nation’s economy,” said Forex.com in a note earlier this month.

The greenback after the OPEC statement bought 1.134 Canadian dollars (USDCAD) from 1.124 Canadian dollars in the previous session.

Meanwhile, the euro (EURUSD) was at $1.2477, down from $1.2509 on Wednesday, and the pound (GBPUSD) bought $1.5724, less than $1.5792 in the previous session. The dollar traded at 117.73 Japanese yen (USDJPY), little changed from Yen117.74.

The dollar index (DXY), a measure of its strength against a basket of six rival currencies, rose 0.3% to 87.992.