Canada’s dollar was worth less than its U.S. counterpart for the first time in a month amid a surge in risk aversion and drop in the price of crude oil. Canada’s currency fell to the weakest level since January as investors sought a refuge in the greenback on concern Greece is moving closer to default. It fell 3.1 percent this year in the worst performance among 10 developed-nations currencies, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Currency Indexes. The greenback is down 3 percent. The two nations have the world’s largest trading relationship. “The main themes continue to play out: concern over the situation in Europe and risk off,” said Matthew Perrier, director of foreign exchange at Bank of Montreal, by phone today from Toronto. “The underlying situation remains tilted towards a negative risk scenario. One would expect the Canadian dollar to weaken.” The currency dropped 0.3 percent to 99.94 cents per U.S. dollar at 7:50 a.m. in Toronto, compared with 99.67 cents at the end of last week. It fell as much as 0.5 percent to C$1.0016, the weakest level since Jan. 31. One Canadian dollar buys $1.0006. The euro dropped to the lowest since 2001 against the yen on speculation German Chancellor Angela Merkel is preparing for a Greek default. The dollar strengthened for a third day as fresh Greek austerity plans failed to calm financial-market stress in the euro area. “The U.S. dollar is doing better against Europe, dragging Canada up against the crosses,” said BMO’s Perrier. “That has tempered the ascent through parity,” meaning the Canadian dollar is outperforming non-U.S. dollar currencies, limiting its losses versus the greenback. To contact the reporter on this story: 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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