The Canadian dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart as crude oil declined as much as 8 percent. “Markets are still in semi-holiday mode until next week,” wrote Jacqui Douglas, currency strategist at TD Securities Inc. in Toronto, in a note to clients. The Canadian currency was little changed at $1.2182 per U.S. dollar at 9:16 a.m. in Toronto, compared with C$1.22 yesterday. It earlier fell as much as 0.8 percent. One Canadian dollar buys 82.09 U.S. cents. Crude oil for February delivery fell as much as $3.55 to $41.05 a barrel in New York. Crude accounts for about one-tenth of Canada’s export revenue. The loonie, as the currency is known, fell 18 percent against the U.S. dollar in 2008, the biggest annual decline on record, as the global recession cut demand for commodities, which account for about half of Canada’s export revenue. The Canadian dollar will weaken to C$1.28 by the end of the first quarter, according to the median estimate of 39 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The yield on the two-year Canadian government bond fell one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 1.08 percent. It reached 1.045 percent on Dec. 29, the lowest level since at least 1989, when Bloomberg records begin. The price of the 2.75 percent security due in December 2010 rose 1 cent to C$103.13.

Source