Canada’s dollar weakened from near the highest level in eight months as stocks and commodities such as crude oil fell and the Bank of Canada prepared to meet to decide monetary policy. “This is more the risk-aversion trade than anything else,” said Jonathan Gencher, director of currency sales at BMO Capital Markets, a unit of Canada’s fourth-largest lender. The loonie, as Canada’s dollar is known, fell as much as 0.9 percent, the most in a week. Ratings companies Standard & Poor’s and DBRS Ltd. downgraded the debt outlook for Ontario, Canada’s largest province, which “certainly doesn’t help,” Toronto-based Gencher said. Bank of Montreal predicts the loonie will trade at C$1.1130 by year-end. The Canadian currency weakened 0.8 percent to C$1.0894 per U.S. dollar at 8:25 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.0812 yesterday. One Canadian dollar buys 91.79 U.S. cents. The currency touched C$1.0785 two days ago, the strongest level since Oct. 3. The central bank meets tomorrow in Ottawa. It cut interest rates by half to 0.25 percent at the last meeting on April 21. The MSCI World Index, a benchmark for stocks in 23 developed markets, fell 0.4 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in June declined 0.5 percent. Crude oil for July delivery dropped as much as 1.3 percent to $67.98 a barrel.

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