Canada's dollar ended flat against the greenback on Friday, but fell with the US dollar against other major currencies as US and Canadian economic data disappointed the market. The US dollar's drop halted a rally that had taken it to an 11-month high against the yen and a one-month peak versus the euro. It slipped after tame US inflation data prompted investors to rethink expectations of higher US interest rates.
In Canada, data showed the manufacturing sector's long trudge to recovery from the 2008-09 recession faltered in January as sales at the factory gate fell unexpectedly. "The trend for today and the week overall is basically that North American currencies have been moving together," said Greg Moore, FX strategist at TD Securities. "That's why we've seen the (Mexican) peso, the CAD and the US dollar all underperforming today, along with the disappointing US and Canadian data."
The Canadian dollar closed the North American session at C$0.9919 versus the US dollar, or $1.0082, little changed from Thursday's finish of C$0.9922 versus the US currency, or $1.0079. The currency was equally flat on the week, down just 0.1 percent. Despite what he called knee-jerk reaction to the data flow on Friday, Moore noted that the Canadian dollar was still stuck in its recent "solid sideways range" against its US counterpart between C$0.9850-C$1.0050.