The Canadian dollar capped a losing week in which it touched a five-week low with a sharp gain of more than 1 US cent on Friday, as the greenback trickled lower after some weak US economic data. The Canadian dollar closed at US $1.0269, valuing each US dollar at 97.38 Canadian cents, up from Thursday's close of US $1.0151, or 98.51 Canadian cents.
While the move allowed the currency to recoup a chunk of its recent losses, it still left the week down 3 percent from last Friday's close, and well off its modern-day high of US $1.1039, set November 7.It slid as far as US $1.0138 in Thursday's session, its lowest level against the US dollar in five weeks.
The bulk of the currency's gains on Friday were attributed to a weak greenback, which fell after data showed a drop in US industrial production and weaker than expected foreign investment in US securities for September.
"The backdrop, overall, is still US dollar negative so I think the broad trend that we've had in the Canadian dollar since March is very much alive," said David Watt, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets. While the recent selloff marked a complete turnaround from earlier in the year when the domestic currency was locked into what seemed like an unstoppable climb, it did not cause much concern among market experts.