2015.01.0800:54:02UTC+00Canadian dollar gains modestly on Fed minutes, oil steady

The Canadian dollar slightly firmed versus the US dollar Wednesday, partially helped by a break in the oil price rout and the Federal Reserve’s minutes of the meeting.

However, the currency remained close to 5 ½-year lows.

US oil prices ended higher for the first time in five days, declining around 10% this week, following US crude inventories displayed a sudden drop last week. It finished at $48.65 a barrel.

"The FOMC was fairly dependent on the assumption that the dollar rally, the oil price decline, that those were transitory issues, and would not have a permanent impact on inflation," said Greg Anderson, Global Head of Foreign Exchange Strategy at BMO Capital Markets.

The loonie ended at C$1.1820 to the greenback or 84.60 US cents, slightly stronger than Tuesday's C$1.1828 or 84.55 US. cents.