BLBG: Canada’s Dollar Falls For a Second Day as Risk Appetite Wanes
Canada’s dollar fell for a second day as a drop in global equities and U.S. stock futures indicated increased risk aversion amid a deepening global recession.
“With equities weaker this morning, you will see Canada weaken off a little bit,” said Firas Askari, head currency trader in Toronto at BMO Nesbitt Burns, a unit of Bank of Montreal. “We are a direct reflection of overall risk. It’s correlated with commodities as well.”
Canada’s dollar fell 0.2 percent to C$1.1966 per U.S. dollar at 8:40 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.1940 yesterday. One Canadian dollar buys 83.57 U.S. cents.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.9 percent and the MSCI World Index fell 1.1 percent. The UBS Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index declined 1.5 percent. Commodities account for about half of Canada’s export revenue.
Crude oil for February delivery fell 3.4 percent, declining to $41.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude, which is down 56 percent from a year ago, is the largest component of the Bank of Canada’s Commodity Price Index, accounting for 21 percent.
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 1 cent to C$103.02.