BLBG:Canada Dollar Touches 3-Month Low on Greece Concern
Canada’s dollar fell to the weakest level since January as concern that Greece exiting the euro would precipitate a wider collapse in the region spurs demand for the perceived safety of the U.S. currency.
The Canadian currency dropped before a Statistics Canada report that economists predict will show manufacturing sales rose in March after falling the month before. The currency is up 1.1 percent during the past week, the second-best performer against nine major peers tracked by Bloomberg Correlation- Weighted Indexes.
“It’s a pretty clear risk-off scenario because nobody knows what problem will pop up next,” said Lutz Karpowitz, a senior currency strategist at Commerzbank AG, by phone from Frankfurt. “The credibility of the Greek banking system is gone. The Canadian dollar is also a risk-driven currency; it’s a bit under pressure, but that’s limited to some extent.
Canada’s currency, nicknamed the loonie, fell 0.1 percent to C$1.0082 per U.S. dollar at 7:43 a.m. in Toronto, after dropping to C$1.0130, the lowest since Jan. 25. One Canadian dollar buys 99.19 U.S. cents.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Fournier in Halifax at cfournier3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net
