BLBG: Canadian Currency Drops to Lowest in 5 Weeks as Stocks Decline
June 25 (Bloomberg) -- Canada’s currency weakened to the lowest level since May 19 as stocks fell, making it the worst performer against the U.S. dollar this month among the 16 most- active currencies tracked by Bloomberg.
“The Canadian dollar is a dog with fleas,” said Steve Butler, director of foreign-exchange trading in Toronto at Scotia Capital Inc., a unit of Canada’s third-largest bank. “It has really been an underperformer of late.”
The currency, known as the loonie, weakened 0.2 percent to C$1.1602 per U.S. dollar at 9:06 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.1576 yesterday. It touched C$1.1638. One Canadian dollar buys 86.19 U.S. cents.
The loonie is down 6 percent since reaching an eight-month high on June 1. Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney warned at least twice this month that a stronger currency threatens to choke off economic growth.
The MSCI World Index, a measure of stocks in 23 developed nations, fell 0.8 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 0.6 percent.
Crude oil, Canada’s largest export, traded below $69 a barrel today after reaching as high as $73.23 this month. Crude for August delivery rose 0.3 percent to $68.89 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
