The Canadian dollar fell to its lowest level since early October against the US dollar on Friday as commodities prices sagged anew and Canadian economic growth data left investors uncertain about the prospect of an interest rate cut next week.
Domestic bond prices headed lower after the third-quarter gross domestic product report. The Canadian dollar was at par with the US dollar, down from US $1.0028, or 99.72 Canadian cents, at Thursday's session close. Technical selling triggered a slump in US crude oil prices to below $89 a barrel, which was negative for Canada's commodity-linked currency.
And spot gold prices also dropped sharply, to around $784 an ounce, partially due to the lower energy prices. The drop in commodity prices overshadowed news that Canada's economy grew more than expected, to an annualised 2.9 percent in the third quarter.
After the data was released, the Canadian dollar firmed, briefly rising to around US $1.006 from pre-data levels of 1.004, before falling back. The Canadian dollar is down about 5.5 percent this month after surging to a modern-day high of US $1.1039 on November 7. That's biggest monthly decline since at least February 1982, according to Reuters EcoWin.