Canada’s currency fell from a two- month high as oil and natural gas declined and larger-than- expected U.S. job cuts in December suggested weakening demand for Canadian exports. “Whatever happens in the U.S., it’s worse for Canada because of the trade ties,” said Meg Browne, a senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York. “If we have very weak U.S. jobs numbers, theoretically, that means demand for Canadian goods could be even worse.” Canada’s dollar fell 0.6 percent to C$1.1910 per U.S. dollar at 10:53 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.1842 yesterday. The currency touched C$1.1762 yesterday, the strongest since Nov. 10, when it reached C$1.1657. One Canadian dollar buys 83.96 U.S. cents. The Canadian dollar weakened against 13 of the 16 most actively traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg. Companies in the U.S. eliminated an estimated 693,000 jobs in December, the most since records began in 2001, a private report based on payroll data showed. The drop was larger than the 495,000 forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Crude oil for February delivery fell 2.4 percent, declining to $47.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude, which is down 50 percent from last year, is the largest component of the Bank of Canada’s Commodity Price Index, accounting for 21 percent. Natural gas for February delivery fell 1.7 percent to $5.88 per million British thermal units. The Canadian currency weakened 18 percent against the greenback in 2008 as the global recession reduced demand for commodities. Commodities account for about half of Canada’s export revenue. The yield on the two-year Canadian government bond fell one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 1.13 percent. The price of the 2.75 percent security due in December 2010 rose 2 cents to C$103.02.

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