BLBG: Canada's Dollar Falls to Four-Year Low on Outlook for Growth
By Chris Fournier
Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's currency dropped to the lowest in four years on speculation that worldwide economic growth will slow as U.S. investors sell assets.
The loonie, as the currency is known because of the aquatic bird on the one-dollar coin, is poised for a fourth straight weekly decline, its longest losing streak in almost a year. The currency has lost 16 percent this month as commodities including crude oil have plummeted.
``The general bearishness on the global growth outlook is pressuring commodity currencies generally,'' said Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist at TD Securities Inc. in Toronto. ``There's a mad scramble for U.S. dollars. We continue to see position covering and repatriation back to the U.S. The Canadian dollar is looking pretty soggy here.''
The Canadian dollar depreciated by as much as 1.6 percent to C$1.2743 per U.S. dollar, the lowest since Oct. 4, 2004, from C$1.2539 yesterday, when it fell the most since at least 1971, when Bloomberg records begin. The currency has dropped 7 percent since Oct. 17. It fell six straight weeks to Dec. 14. It traded at C$1.2708 at 8:08 a.m. in Toronto. One Canadian dollar buys 78.70 U.S. cents.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Fournier in Montreal at cfournier3@bloomberg.net