By Chris Fournier Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's currency depreciated against its U.S. counterpart as global stocks fell, indicating investors are averse to risk and diminishing the outlook for commodities including crude oil. ``We're continuing to watch equities as an indication of to what extent the market remains risk-averse,'' said Matthew Strauss, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto. ``The Canadian dollar is struggling. The commodities backdrop and global growth concerns continue to weigh on the currency.'' The Canadian dollar weakened as much as 0.7 percent to C$1.2347 per U.S. dollar, from C$1.2256 yesterday. It traded at C$1.2309 at 7:45 a.m. in Toronto. One Canadian dollar buys 81.23 U.S. cents. Crude oil for December delivery dropped as much as 82 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $54.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That's the lowest since Jan. 30, 2007. Strauss predicts the Canadian dollar will weaken to C$1.27 by the end of the year. To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Fournier in Montreal at cfournier3@bloomberg.net

Source