By Chris Fournier Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Canada’s dollar climbed against its U.S. counterpart after reports fueled speculation European leaders will increase the effectiveness of the bailout fund for the region’s debt crisis, spurring gains in risk-related assets. The Canadian currency climbed against a majority of its 16 most-traded peers. The loonie, as the currency is nicknamed, remained higher after the nation’s wholesale sales rose for a fourth month in August. “Europe is completely driving the bus right now,” said Jack Spitz, managing director of foreign exchange at National Bank of Canada in Toronto, in a telephone interview. “Reports on the European Financial Stability Facility guidelines were enough to instill a flurry of stop-loss buying of the euro,” he said, referring to traders buying the currency to cover bets that it would fall, “which created broad-based U.S. dollar selling, which created offers in dollar-Canada.” Canada’s currency climbed 0.5 percent to C$1.0157 per U.S. dollar at 8:34 a.m. in Toronto. It touched C$1.0085 yesterday, almost the strongest level this month. One Canadian dollar buys 98.45 U.S. cents. Wholesale sales rose 0.2 percent in August to C$48.4 billion ($47.5 billion), Ottawa-based Statistics Canada said. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News forecast a 0.5 percent increase, the median of 15 estimates. The gain reflected higher prices for imported goods. Excluding the impact of prices, wholesalers recorded their biggest decline since May 2010. --Editors: Paul Cox, Greg Storey To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Fournier in Halifax, Nova Scotia at cfournier3@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net

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