The Canadian dollar fell to a 19-month low against its broadly stronger US counterpart on Friday, as declines for stocks and the price of oil offset data showing stronger-than-expected growth in the domestic economy. At 4:00 p.m. (2100 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading 0.7 percent lower at 1.3598 to the greenback, or 73.54 US cents. The currency touched its weakest level since May 2017 at 1.3601.
For the week, the loonie was down 1.6 percent, its biggest drop since June. "We are seeing an extremely orderly move but a weakening Canadian dollar, as would be expected with lower oil prices and deteriorating risk appetite," said Greg Anderson, global head of foreign exchange strategy at BMO Capital Markets in New York.
Speculators have cut their bearish bets on the Canadian dollar for the second straight week, data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Reuters calculations showed. As of Dec. 18, net short positions had fallen to 7,457 contracts from 11,669 a week earlier. Canada's economy expanded at a faster-than-expected 0.3 percent pace in October, but evidence of economic momentum heading into the end of the year may not be enough to shift the Bank of Canada from the sidelines due to the recent slump in oil prices.
Canadian companies expect sales growth to stabilize over the next year, and say labor pressures and various tariffs mean input and output prices will start to rise more quickly, a Bank of Canada survey said.
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