BLBG: Canada's Dollar Falls to Lowest Since May 2007 as Oil Declines
By Chris Fournier
Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's currency weakened to the lowest since May 2007 as crude oil fell below $90 a barrel for the first time since February.
The Canadian dollar dropped as much as 0.9 percent to C$1.0924 per U.S. dollar, from C$1.0827 on Oct. 3, the lowest since May 18, 2007, when it touched C$1.1001. It last traded at C$1.0847 at 7:50 a.m. in Toronto. One Canadian dollar buys 92.20 U.S. cents.
Oil dropped as much as 5.3 percent. Crude for November delivery traded at $89.65.
Canada relies on commodities for about half its export revenue. Crude accounts for 21 percent of the weighting in the Bank of Canada Commodity Price Index, the largest single component.
The loonie, as Canada's currency is known because of the aquatic bird on the one-dollar coin, will slip to C$1.13 against the U.S. dollar by the end of 2009, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.
Statistics Canada will say building permits fell 1.5 percent in August, according to the median forecast of 13 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The report will be released at 8:30 a.m. in Ottawa.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Fournier in Montreal at cfournier3@bloomberg.net
