By Chris Fournier Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Canada’s dollar weakened for a second day after Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney warned about the currency’s excessive strength, spurring investors to look elsewhere for higher yield. “The markets take Governor Carney very seriously,” said Jack Spitz, managing director of foreign exchange at National Bank of Canada in Toronto. “For the Canadian dollar there’s likely to be some lag as a result of Carney’s comments.” The Canadian currency depreciated 0.4 percent to C$1.0514 per U.S. dollar at 8:27 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.0475 yesterday. One Canadian dollar buys 95.11 U.S. cents. Carney said yesterday that investors lost their “focus” on the central bank’s commitment to meet a 2 percent inflation target, and said action to weaken the Canadian dollar is an “option.” Canada’s dollar had strengthened 19 percent this year through Oct. 19, the day before the central bank left interest rates at a record low and stepped up its warnings about the risk to the nation’s recovery that a stronger currency poses. Crude for December delivery rose as much as 0.7 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil traded at a one-year high of $82 a barrel on Oct. 21. Futures on Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.2 percent as earnings from Amazon.com Inc. and Honeywell International Inc. beat analysts’ estimates. The benchmark index for U.S. equities has climbed 0.5 percent this week. “I totally agree with the concept that if equities are bid and commodities are rising there’s likely to be pressure on the U.S. dollar versus the Canadian dollar,” said Spitz. He added that yesterday’s announcement of a higher-than-projected deficit in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, may also be weighing on the currency.

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