The Canadian dollar strengthened modestly against the greenback on Friday as the price of crude, a major Canadian export, rose, and data showed Canadian manufacturing sales jumped in December, beating forecasts. Factory sales rose 1.7 percent to C$52.39 billion ($41.91 billion), surpassing economists' forecast for a gain of 1 percent. November's sales were revised slightly higher to a decline of 1.3 percent from an originally reported 1.4 percent drop.
Brent crude prices rose above $60 a barrel for the first time this year, as signs that deeper industry spending cuts could curb the supply glut. US crude also rose and traded near $53 at one point in the session. "The data was a nice surprise this morning. That was the main impetus this morning that got us down to C$1.2465," said Greg Anderson, global head of foreign exchange strategy at BMO Capital Markets in New York.
Anderson said the market has been long USD/CAD and some participants were also exiting their positions for the day. At 9:29 am ET (1423 GMT), the Canadian dollar was at C$1.2480 to the greenback, or 80.13 US cents, stronger than Thursday's finish at C$1.2490 or 80.06 US cents. Canadian government bond prices were lower across the maturity curve, with the two-year slipping 3 Canadian cents to yield 0.434 percent and the benchmark 10-year easing 22 Canadian cents to yield 1.419 percent.