By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, Jan. 23 – The Canadian dollar continued to weaken against the US dollar on Friday, hitting a fresh six-year low, analysts said.
The Canadian dollar closed at US$0.8049 or US$1=C$1.2424 on Friday, which compares with Thursday’s North American settlement of US$0.8062 or US$1=C$1.2404.
Disappointing Canadian Consumer Price Index (CPI) data was weighing on the loonie, as was weakness in crude oil. According to Statistics Canada, the CPI rose 1.5 per cent in the 12 months to December, following a 2.0 per cent jump in November.
Read Also
Canadian Financial Close: Loonie up as U.S. markets tumble
Glacier FarmMedia — The Canadian dollar regained some ground on Friday as its United States counterpart struggled. The loonie closed…
Ongoing worries about slow global economic growth, after the Bank of Canada lowered interest rates earlier this week, and the European Central Bank implemented a new stimulus program, added to the bearish tone.
However, sentiment that the loonie is oversold tempered the downside, as did positive Canadian retail sales data. StatsCan said retail sales were up 0.4 per cent to C$43 billion in November, while expectations called for a decline.
Canadian bonds moved higher on Friday, supported by the soft Canadian CPI data. Though upbeat retail sales figures limited the upside, traders said.
The two-year bond yielded 0.548% late Friday, from 0.553% late Thursday. The 10-year bond yielded 1.459%. Bond yields fall as their prices rise.
