BLBG:Canadian Dollar Falls Before EU Summit, Canadian Retail
Canada’s dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart for a second day as concern increased before a European Union leaders’ meeting and a government report forecast to show retail sales rose in March.
The loonie, as the currency is nicknamed, slumped after Greece’s former Prime Minister Lucas Papademos told the Wall Street Journal there is a risk, however unlikely, that the nation will leave the euro. The currency’s drop was limited before the sales report, scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m.
“We’ll take our cues from what is going on in Europe, as it dictates market sentiment, but for now it seems pretty negative,” said Matthew Perrier, Toronto-based director of foreign exchange at Bank of Montreal. “The reaction as far as the Canadian dollar is concerned has been fairly limited.”
The currency weakened 0.2 percent to C$1.0225 per U.S. dollar at 7:47 a.m. in Toronto. It fell to as low as C$1.0238, after reaching C$1.0247 on May 21, the weakest level since Jan. 16. One Canadian dollar buys 97.80 U.S. cents.
Canadian retail sales rose 0.3 percent in March after declining 0.2 percent in the previous month, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey.
To contact the reporter on this story: Catarina Saraiva in New York at asaraiva5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net
