Canada’s currency climbed for a third straight day, touching the strongest level since October as a rise by U.S. stocks spurred demand for higher-yielding assets. “The Canadian dollar will continue to take its cue from global risk factors, primarily measured by equities,” said Jack Spitz, managing director of foreign exchange at National Bank of Canada in Toronto. “The loonie is really being influenced by macro risk factors rather than by domestic economic data.” The Canadian currency, known as the loonie, appreciated as much as 1.4 percent to C$1.1402 per U.S. dollar, the highest since Oct. 14, when it reached C$1.1306. It traded at C$1.1411 at 9:56 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.1558 yesterday. One Canadian dollar buys 87.63 U.S. cents. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced 1.4 percent. Consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in April from a year earlier after a 1.2 percent increase in the previous month, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. The median forecast of 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was a 0.6 percent advance. “Diminished inflation helps to maintain the value of money invested in a country,” said Eric Lascelles, Toronto-based chief economics and rates strategist at TD Securities Inc. The loonie will weaken to C$1.19 versus the U.S. dollar by year-end, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 42 analysts and economists.

Source