Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 09/29/17

Crude oil prices gained in Asia on Monday as the impact of Hurricane Irma was not as severe as expected so far, but still packed a wallop for Florida even as its intensity was downgraded and as investors eyed China crude buying trends in the wake of a strongly stronger yuan. Hurricane Irma knocked out power to more than 2.4 million homes and businesses in Florida on Sunday, threatening millions more as it crept up the state's west coast, and full restoration of service will take weeks, local electric utilities said. But after Hurricane Irma hit Florida on Sunday morning as a dangerous Category 4 storm, the second highest level on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, it weakened to a Category 2 with maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour (177 kph). The yuan gained to its highest level since May 2016 on Monday, a boon for commodity imports priced in dolalrs that are imported into China such as crude oil. Click Read More below for more of the story.

American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 0.800895; American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.151079; American Dollar to Euro = 1.181784; American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.008840; American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.052958.

Futures in New York rose as much as 1.2 percent after dropping on Monday. While U.S. inventories are forecast to have added 3.4 million barrels last week, that would mark slower growth than the prior week. OPEC and its partners, which are cutting output to ease the global glut, still expect markets to balance by about the third quarter, according to people familiar with the matter. U.S. crude inventories are at their highest since December and probably grew again last week, according to a Bloomberg survey before government data due Wednesday. While supplies are set for a fourth weekly advance, the expected increase is smaller than the 5 million-barrel gain a week earlier. Click Read More below for additional information.