Canadian bonds fall

20 Nov, 2005

The Canadian bond prices eased on Friday alongside US government debt in a largely uneventful session as the weak wholesale trade data did not dissuade traders from expectations that the Bank of Canada will raise interest rates in December.
The central bank has boosted its overnight rate twice since early September - moving it up to 3 percent - as it moves to stem inflation in an economy running at full capacity.
October inflation and September retail sales data will be closely watched next week, as the market tries to gauge whether the bank will follow its expected December interest rate hike with another in January.
The two-year bond slipped 7 Canadian cents to C$98.06 to yield 3.754 percent, while the 10-year bond dropped 27 Canadian cents to C$103.05 to yield 4.109 percent.
The yield spread between the two-year and 10-year bond moved to 35.5 basis points from 35.9 at the previous close.
The 30-year bond retreated 28 Canadian cents to C$113.63 to yield 4.214 percent. In the United States, the 30-year treasury yielded 4.689 percent.
The three-month when-issued T-bill yielded 3.30 percent, up from 3.29 percent at the previous close.
The Canadian dollar eased on Friday, pulled down by retreating energy prices as the market ignored weak wholesale trade figures and looked ahead to more high-profile economic data next week.
The currency finished at C$1.1900 to the US dollar, or 84.03 US cents, down from C$1.1864 to the US dollar, or 84.29 US cents, at Thursday's session close.
Canadian wholesale trade dipped 0.1 percent in September from August, the second fall in three months, compared with an expected rise of 0.4 percent.
Traders largely ignored the data, and focused instead on energy prices, which weakened sharply.
"You can see that dollar/Canada is trading at elevated levels as oil remains well below $60 a barrel," said David Powell, currency analyst at IDEAglobal in New York.
Crude oil dropped briefly below $56 a barrel for the first time in five months, as unseasonably warm weather allowed fuel stockpiles to build up.
Strong commodity prices - particularly energy - have been a key driver during the Canadian dollar's surge to 14-year highs in late September.

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