By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg – December 10/12 – CNS – The Canadian dollar was trading at a stronger level versus the US currency in late North American activity on Monday. Much of the upswing in the value of the currency was associated with Friday’s news that the Government of Canada had approved two takeovers of Canadian energy companies, market watchers said.
The Canadian Government approved China’s Cnooc Ltd.’s acquisition of Canadian oil-sands operator Nexen Inc. and Malaysia’s Petroleum Nasional Bnd’s takeover of Canada’s Progress Energy Resources Corp.
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The Canadian currency late in the afternoon was quoted at
C$0.9869 (101.32 US cents). This compares with Friday’s late North American quote of C$0.9884 (101.17 US cents).
Some of the strength in the Canadian unit was also linked to the advances posted by the North American equity sector, brokers said.
The late downturn in the value of crude oil tempered some of the upswing in the Canadian unit.
No economic data of any significance was released in Canada on Monday.
Canadian bonds were slightly higher along the yield curve on Monday as investors looked for safe havens in response to developments in Italy, market watchers said.
Over the weekend, Italy’s technocrat Prime Minister Mario Monti said he would step down early next year once the country’s 2013 budget is approved. His decision came after former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi rescinded support and indicated he wanted to return to politics.
Canada’s two-year bond yield was at 1.059% Monday, from 1.067% late Friday. The 10-year bond yielded 1.702%, from 1.712%. Bond yields move inversely to bond prices.
The market showed little reaction to the news that housing starts in Canada dropped 3.6% to 196,000 at an annualized rate in November, weaker than expected.
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