Canada’s dollar traded at almost the strongest level this month after a report showed China’s manufacturing may grow in October for the first time in four months, increasing demand for riskier assets. The loonie, as the currency is nicknamed, was little changed against its U.S. counterpart after European leaders meeting in Brussels yesterday outlined plans to assist banks, heading toward a revamped strategy to resolve the debt crisis. Crude Oil, Canada’s biggest export, gained 0.3 percent to $87.80 a barrel in New York. “The Chinese PMI numbers have contributed to a risk- positive sentiment in Asia,” said Shaun Osborne, chief foreign exchange strategist at Toronto-Dominion Bank’s TD Securities unit in Toronto, in a telephone interview. “Dollar/Canada should be well supported around C$1.0050. There’s very good, very consistent demand for U.S. dollars around that point.” Canada’s currency was little changed at C$1.0065 per U.S. dollar at 8:22 a.m. in Toronto, having earlier touched C$1.0050, almost the lowest since Sept. 21. It weakened against 10 of its 16 most-traded peers. One Canadian dollar buys 99.33 U.S. cents. “There wasn’t anything significant in the European meetings,” said Osborne at TD. “It was all pretty much as people had expected -- an unspectacular outcome.” To contact the reporters for this story: Frederic Tomesco in Montreal at tomesco@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net

Source