By Chris Fournier Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Canada’s dollar fell for the first time in three days against its U.S. counterpart on concern European nations may have difficulty repaying their debt, discouraging demand for higher-yielding assets. The Canadian currency dropped against the majority of its 16 most-traded peers as crude oil fell. The Canadian dollar is underperforming today after rising versus its commodity-related peers such as the Australian dollar earlier this month. “The focus will remain in Europe,� said Camilla Sutton, chief currency strategist at Bank of Nova Scotia’s Scotia Capital unit in Toronto, in an e-mail message. “The sovereign crisis appears to be entering a more dangerous stage.� Canada’s currency depreciated 0.6 percent to C$1.0167 per U.S. dollar at 8:15 a.m. in Toronto. One Canadian dollar buys 98.36 U.S. cents. The Canadian dollar fell as Italian borrowing costs increased at a five-year note sale today. Italy sold the securities at a yield of 6.29 percent, up from 5.32 percent at the previous auction and the highest since June 1997. Mario Monti sought to form a new government in Italy to restore investor confidence in public finances. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index decreased 0.4 percent. Futures on crude oil, Canada’s biggest export, fell 0.9 percent to $98.05 a barrel. --Editors: Kenneth Pringle, Dennis Fitzgerald 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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