(Adds strategist quotes and details throughout, updates prices)
* Canadian dollar falls 0.2% against greenback
* Loonie falls 1.4% for the week
* Flash estimate shows Canadian wholesale trade up 0.1% in
August
* Canada’s 10-year yield eases 1.4 basis points to 0.543%
By Fergal Smith
TORONTO, Sept 25 (Reuters) – The Canadian dollar weakened to
a seven-week low against its U.S. counterpart on Friday as
rising economic and political uncertainties raised demand for
safe-haven currencies, with the loonie losing ground for the
third straight week.
The loonie was trading 0.2% lower at 1.3385 to the
greenback, or 74.71 U.S. cents. The currency touched its weakest
intraday level since Aug. 4 at 1.3418.
For the week, the loonie was down 1.4%. That was its biggest
weekly decline since April.
“Risk sentiment this month is not doing so well,” said Mazen
Issa, a senior FX strategist at TD Securities. “I think it is
pretty clear that we’re in a (U.S.) dollar firming tactical
phase … CAD has been a byproduct of that.”
The U.S. dollar extended its recent gains against a
basket of major currencies as investors sought safety amid a
slowing economic recovery, rising coronavirus infections in
Europe and uncertainty surrounding the upcoming U.S. elections.
The Japanese yen and the Swiss franc also
gained ground against major peers. Like the greenback, they are
currencies that tend to benefit from volatile markets.
Worries that the resurgence in coronavirus cases would crush
fuel demand weighed on the price of oil, one of Canada’s major
exports. U.S. crude oil futures settled 0.2% lower at
$40.25 a barrel.
Canada is also seeing a rise in infections. Ontario and
Quebec, the country’s two most populous provinces, moved to
clamp down further on social gatherings in a bid to slow a
second wave sweeping across much of the country.
Canadian wholesale trade edged up 0.1% in August after
jumping 4.3% in July, a flash estimate from Statistics Canada
showed.
Canadian government bond yields were lower across much of a
flatter curve, with the 10-year down 1.4 basis
points at 0.543%.
(Reporting by Fergal Smith
Editing by Paul Simao and Diane Craft)
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Keywords: CANADA FOREX/ (UPDATE 1)
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