BLBG: Canada’s Dollar Declines for a Second Day as Stocks, Oil Drop
Canada’s currency depreciated for a second day against its U.S. counterpart as a rally in global stocks fizzled and crude oil fell back below $47, diminishing the allure of commodity-linked currencies.
“If the stocks give back more ground today, I expect the Canadian dollar to lose some ground as well,” said Steven Butler, director of foreign-exchange trading in Toronto at Scotia Capital Inc., a unit of Canada’s third-largest bank. “This bull rally in a bear market remains very fragile.”
The Canadian dollar, known as the loonie, weakened 0.3 percent to C$1.2755 per U.S. dollar at 8:25 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.2719 yesterday. One Canadian dollar buys 78.40 U.S. cents.
After reaching C$1.3064 on an intraday basis on March 9, a four-year low, the Canadian dollar has strengthened as investors venture out of traditional safe havens such as the U.S. dollar and the yen into higher-yielding assets such as equities and commodities.
Canada’s currency will appreciate to C$1.24 against the U.S. dollar by the end of the year, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 40 economists.
The yield on the two-year government bond was little changed at 0.99 percent. The 2.75 percent security due in December 2010 traded at C$102.98.