By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, March 21 – The Canadian dollar was stronger relative to the US dollar on Friday, lifted by positive Canadian economic data, analysts said.
Canadian retail sales data came in better than expected at 1.3 per cent in January, beating the 0.7 per cent gain economists forecasted, Statistics Canada data showed.
StatsCan also reported Canadian inflation was 1.2 per cent on a year-over-year basis in February, beating expectations of a 1.1 per cent gain.
The Canadian dollar closed at US$0.8921 or US$1=C$1.1210 on Friday, which compares with Thursday’s North American settlement of US$0.8895 or US$1=C$1.1242.
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Spillover support also came from the advances seen in commodities, including crude oil and gold, brokers said.
However, Wednesday’s announcements that Canadian interest rate cuts aren’t out of the picture and US interest rates may rise next year, tempered the upside.
Canadian bonds were mostly higher on Friday, following the gains seen in the US Treasury market, industry officials said.
The two-year bond yielded 1.080% late Friday, from 1.073% late Thursday. The 10-year bond yielded 2.493%, from
2.502%. Bond yields fall as their prices rise.
