The Canadian dollar closed the week roughly where it began, after losing ground against the US currency on Friday due to an unexpected fall in June wholesale trade data. Domestic bond prices rose across the board in tandem with US treasuries.
The currency ended at C$1.1251 to the US dollar, or 88.88 US cents, down from C$1.1223 to the US dollar, or 89.10 US cents, at Thursday's close. The June wholesale trade report added to the collection of recent data releases that suggest slowing economic growth, although the mid-week June manufacturing report was surprisingly strong and gave a boost to the Canadian currency after its release.
On Friday, Statistics Canada said wholesale sales slid 0.6 percent from May on falling demand for motor vehicles. The figure was well off expectations of a 0.3 percent gain. The Canadian dollar fell moderately after the report's release, and then extended those losses in the afternoon, wiping out gains made earlier in the week.
"The wholesale sales figure very clearly came in softer than had been expected," said Eric Lascelles, senior strategist with TD Securities in Toronto.
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