TORONTO: The Canadian dollar strengthened against its US counterpart on Friday as equity markets held on to recent gains and ahead of domestic inflation data in the coming week that could guide expectations for Bank of Canada interest rate cuts.

The loonie was trading 0.3% higher at 1.3692 per US dollar, or 73.04 US cents. For the week, the currency was also up 0.3%, adding to the previous week’s gains.

“A decent finish to the week for the Canadian dollar,” said Erik Bregar, director, FX & precious metals risk management at Silver Gold Bull. “I think the ability for equities to shrug off this morning’s mildly hawkish-looking Michigan sentiment and inflation expectation readings has helped.”