Key Currency Exchange Rates for Friday, 5/5/23

American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 0.705331; American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.137629; American Dollar to Euro = 1.047139; American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.006551; American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.049099.

U.S. oil prices rose on Tuesday and gasoline fell as the gradual restart of refineries in the Gulf of Mexico that were shut by Hurricane Harvey raised demand for crude and eased fears of a fuel supply crunch. Gasoline futures RBc1 dropped 4 percent from their last close, to $1.68 per gallon, down from $2.17 on Aug. 31 and back to levels last seen before Harvey hit the U.S. Gulf Coast and its large refining industry. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures Clc1 rose more than 1 percent to $47.84 per barrel by 1008 GMT, up 55 cents from their last settlement. “Gasoline fell as refineries in Texas began to reopen,” said William O‘Loughlin, investment analyst at Rivkin Securities. Texas was edging towards recovery from the devastation of Harvey as shipping channels, oil pipelines and refineries restarted some operations.

Import cargo at the nation’s major container ports is expected to drop dramatically beginning next month. That’s according to the latest Global Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. (The report was released the day before President Trump gave a 90-day break on most of the new reciprocal tariffs that were set to go into effect while, at the same time, raising duties on China to 125%, effective immediately.) Imports during the second half of 2025 are expected to be down at least 20% year-over-year, said Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett. Even balanced against elevated levels earlier this year, that could bring total 2025 cargo volume to a net decline of 15% or more unless the situation changes.