Petro-currencies are slipping - here's what's happening in FX

Good morning!

Petro-currencies are tumbling again as both Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate crude are lower.

The Canadian dollar is weaker by 0.5% at 1.3039 per dollar, the Russian ruble is off 0.3% at 66.0086 per dollar, and the Mexican peso is down 0.3% at 18.4996 per dollar.

Oil prices have been driven higher in recent weeks by ongoing supply disruptions in places like Nigeria and Canada - and both WTI and Brent cracked through $50 a barrel early on Thursday.

However, both are now back below the $50 level, with WTI down 1.0% at $49.01 and Brent lower by 1.4% at $48.91.

As for the rest of the world, here's the scoreboard as of 7:40 a.m. ET:

• The US dollar is little changed at 95.27 ahead of Fed Chair Janet Yellen's discussion with economics professor Greg Mankiw on the economy. The discussion will begin at 1:15 p.m. ET, and traders will be keeping their eyes open for any clues about the pace of Fed rate hikes.
• The Japanese yen is little changed at 109.64 per dollar as the country reportedly looks to delay its sales tax increase. The sales tax had been scheduled to increase to 10% from 8% in April 2017. The delay is expected to be between one and three years. Separately, consumer prices in Japan are still sliding, falling by 0.3% year-over-year n April.
• The Turkish lira is weaker by 0.3% at 2.9458 after a couple of good days as the currency floated through political risks and the central bank's rate cut. However, "we suspect that political risk will rear its head again before too long and we are not confident that the global risk back drop will remain positive," wrote Morgan Stanley's Hans W. Redeker in a note to clients.

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