BLBG: Canadian Dollar Fluctuates Against Greenback as Crude Oil Price Declines
Canada’s dollar fluctuated against its U.S. counterpart as crude oil dropped to its lowest level in a week and the greenback gained versus almost all of its most- traded counterparts. Government bonds fell.
The loonie, as Canada’s currency is nicknamed, dropped earlier as a report showed Germany’s factory orders fell in December more than analysts forecast, discouraging demand for currencies benefiting from economic growth.
“The risk sentiment has somewhat diminished,” said Dean Popplewell, an analyst at the online currency-trading firm Oanda Corp. in Toronto. “That will hurt the loonie short-term.”
Canada’s currency traded at 98.79 cents per U.S. dollar at 10:44 a.m. in Toronto, compared with 98.73 cents on Feb. 4. One Canadian dollar buys $1.0123. The loonie appreciated 0.1 percent to 83.34 yen, from 83.24.
Futures on crude oil, Canada’s biggest export, fell 0.5 percent to $88.61 a barrel after touching $88.11, the lowest level since Jan. 28.
The yield on Canada’s 10-year bond increased four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 3.49 percent after touching 3.50 percent, the highest since May 18. The 3.5 percent security maturing in June 2020 fell 24 cents to C$100.11.
Canadian building permits rose for the first time in three months in December, led by multifamily housing. The total value of permits issued by municipalities increased 2.4 percent to C$5.66 billion ($5.73 billion) after a revised November decrease of 10.5 percent, Statistics Canada said today.
To contact the reporter for this story: Charles Mead in New York at cmead8@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg
