(RTTNews) - The Canadian dollar edged lower against the currencies of the U.S. and Japan on Friday morning in New York as crude oil, one of the nation's key exports whose price often dictates the currency's direction, continued to move down for a fourth session on demand concerns and a firm dollar. Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for June delivery were down $1.21 to $73.19 a barrel, lingering near its 3-month low. On Monday, oil rose near $79 after the European leaders and IMF agreed to a nearly $1 trillion package to avoid a major debt crisis. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar set an 18-month high versus the euro as the financial aid package announced by the EU and the IMF to the debt ridden euro nations over the weekend failed to help lift sentiment on the euro. In economic news, Canadian manufacturing sales rose slightly more than expected in March, suggesting the ongoing rebound in manufacturing continues to fuel the nation's economic recovery. With automakers seeing solid gains, manufacturing sales advanced 1.2% to $44.5 billion in March, data from Statistics Canada revealed today. Economists were expecting manufacturing sales to rise 1%. The Canadian dollar fell to a 4-day low of 88.74 against the yen around 11:10 am ET, compared to yesterday's close of 90.98. The loonie-yen pair is presently worth 88.85 and the next downside target is likely to be seen around the 87.7 level. The Canadian dollar that tested yesterday's low of 1.2888 against the euro around 8:45 am ET recouped some of its losses shortly. As of 11:10 am, the loonie edged higher to 1.28 against the euro and this may be compared to Thursday's close of 1.2787. The pair is presently worth 1.2817 with 1.2770 seen as the next likely target level in near-term. The Canadian dollar depreciated almost 2.3 percent to reach a 4-day high of 1.0350 against the US dollar by 11:05 am ET from yesterday's 9-day high of 1.0113. The Canadian dollar is currently trading 1.3 percent below its 20-day moving average of 1.0210. The greenback-loonie pair closed yesterday's deals at 1.0201. Across the boarder, the US Department of Commerce said in a report that retail sales edged up by 0.4 percent in April following an upwardly revised 2.1 percent increase in March. Economists had expected retail sales to increase by 0.5 percent compared to the 1.6 percent growth originally reported for the previous month. The Federal Reserve said that industrial production increased by 0.8 percent in April following an upwardly revised 0.2 percent increase in March. The increase in production came in line with economist estimates.

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