By Chris Fournier June 17 (Bloomberg) -- Canada’s dollar weakened versus its U.S. counterpart for the first time in three days as raw materials such as crude oil and copper declined and as a report showed wholesale sales unexpectedly fell in April. The currency declined against all 16 of its most-traded counterparts as it failed three times in four days to appreciate beyond C$1.0225, forming a so-called triple top pattern. Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said yesterday the uneven global recovery and prospects of renewed weakness in Europe mean future increases in its target interest rate aren’t “preordained.” “You’re seeing the Canadian dollar soften a little bit today with commodities, oil in particular, slightly lower,” Blake Jespersen, director of foreign exchange at Bank of Montreal, said by phone from Toronto. “Overall we’re in consolidation mode for the next few days.” The Canadian currency, nicknamed the loonie, weakened 0.3 percent to C$1.0277 per U.S. dollar at 4:29 p.m. in Toronto, compared with C$1.0243 yesterday. It has strengthened to C$1.0225 three times in the last four days, the highest level since May 14. One Canadian dollar buys 97.31 U.S. cents. Canadian government bonds rose, sending the yield on the 10-year note 7 basis points lower to 3.30 percent. The 3.5 percent security due in June 2020 rose 56 cents to C$101.68. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. Canada’s currency reached parity with the greenback on April 6 for the first time in almost two years as signs of an accelerating recovery in the global economy boosted equity markets and demand for the nation’s raw materials, including copper, gold and crude oil. Wholesale Sales The loonie has weakened 2.5 percent since then as the European sovereign-debt crisis throws doubt on the recovery. Even so, the currency remains the second-best performer this year among the greenback’s 16 most-traded counterparts. Wholesale sales unexpectedly fell 0.3 percent to C$44 billion ($43 billion) in April, led by lower sales of motor vehicles, Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. Economists expected a 0.3 percent increase, based on the median of 13 responses in a Bloomberg survey. Carney raised the central bank’s benchmark interest rate on June 1 to 0.5 percent from a record-low 0.25 percent. Policy makers next meet on July 20 to set rates. “Arguably Carney left no clear direction yesterday,” Firas Askari, head currency trader in Toronto at Bank of Montreal, Canada’s fourth-largest lender, said in an e-mail. “The Canadian dollar is weaker against the crosses as there appears to be big U.S. dollar bids around the C$1.0210 to C$1.0220 area.” Yield Spread The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.1 percent after falling as much as 0.8 percent. Crude for July delivery dropped as much as 1.9 percent to $76.17 a barrel in New York, and copper for September delivery slid 3 percent to $2.924 a pound on the Comex in New York, the biggest loss for a most-active contract since June 4. Canada’s currency tends to rise and fall with stocks and commodity prices. The yield advantage of 10-year U.S. Treasuries over similar-maturity Canadian government debt was little changed at 11 basis points. The gap was 18 basis points on June 9. To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Fournier in Montreal at cfournier3@bloomberg.net

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