By Chris Fournier Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Canada’s dollar slid before the central bank releases a report on monetary policy as global stocks and crude oil fell and investors sought the relative safety of the U.S. currency. “Yesterday’s sell-off in equities and the weaker opening today, along with lower crude prices, will pressure the Canadian dollar,” said Michael Leavitt, a Montreal-based institutional- derivatives broker at MF Global Canada Co. “The Bank of Canada’s MPR is another item that the market will focus on.’ The Canadian currency depreciated 0.8 percent to C$1.0518 per U.S. dollar at 9:07 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.0429 yesterday. One Canadian dollar buys 95.08 U.S. cents. Canada’s currency, nicknamed the loonie, dropped 2.2 percent since Oct. 19, the day before the central bank reiterated a pledge to leave interest rates at a record low through June 2010 as long as the inflation outlook doesn’t shift. It also amplified its warning that the currency, which appreciated 18 percent this year through last week, is becoming too strong. The central bank will release its policy report at 10:30 a.m. New York time. It will discuss policy makers’ stance on interest rates, the currency and the economic growth outlook. The U.S. dollar rose against all 16 of its most-traded counterparts tracked by Bloomberg. Canadian retail sales increased in August twice as fast as forecast, climbing 0.8 percent to C$34.5 billion ($32.8 billion), a Statistics Canada report showed. The median forecast of 20 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 0.4 percent rise. The MSCI World Index, a measure of stocks in 23 developed markets, fell for a third day, declining 0.7 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 0.3 percent after the index retreated yesterday 0.9 percent. Crude oil for December delivery tumbled as much as 1.8 percent to $79.90 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude is Canada’s biggest export.

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