Canada’s dollar advanced the most in a week versus its U.S. counterpart as stocks and commodities rallied before a Greek government confidence vote that may determine whether it avoids default. The currency, nicknamed the loonie, gained against a majority of its most-traded peers as crude oil, Canada’s biggest export, rose. The greenback fell on reduced safety demand on speculation Greece’s Prime Minister George Papandreou will win a confidence vote, supporting the euro. “All the trends are in place, with stronger oil prices and stronger equity markets,” said Camilla Sutton, head of currency strategy at Bank of Nova Scotia in Toronto. “The euro is up to new highs, and the U.S. dollar is broadly weaker. All of that is helping the Canadian dollar’s position, creating some Canadian dollar strength.” The Canadian dollar appreciated 0.5 percent to C$97.50 cents per U.S. dollar at 9:46 a.m. in Toronto, from C$97.98 yesterday. It touched C$97.39 cents, the strongest level since June 15. The currency rallied as much as 0.6 percent, the most since June 14. One Canadian dollar buys $1.0256. The MSCI World Index of equities rose for a third day, increasing 0.8 percent. Crude oil for July delivery gained 1 percent to $94.20 a barrel. The Canadian dollar remained higher even after a government report showed retail sales increased in April less than economists forecast. Retail Sales Retail sales rose 0.3 percent that month to a seasonally adjusted C$37.4 billion ($38.3 billion) after a revised decline of 0.1 percent in March, Statistics Canada said today. The median forecast of 24 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 0.4 percent gain. “Despite having this decline off of expectations, I don’t see it as having a major impact,” said C.J. Gavsie, managing director for foreign-exchange trading at Bank of Montreal’s BMO Capital Markets unit in Toronto. “It’s the bigger-picture story on Greece today that’s holding dollar-Canada in check.” Statistics Canada also said today its index of leading economic indicators rose 1 percent in May, twice the pace forecast by economists. Canadian government bonds fell, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year note up two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 2.98 percent. The price of the 3.25 percent security due in June 2021 dropped 14 cents to C$102.30. Greece’s Papandreou is seeking to secure multiparty support for his government’s austerity measures, a condition for receiving aid needed to avoid a default. He called for the vote last week after opposition parties rejected pleas for national consensus and the prime minister’s handling of the crisis led to defections from his party. To contact the reporters on this story: Catarina Saraiva in New York at asaraiva5@bloomberg.net; Chris Fournier in Montreal at cfournier3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net

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