The Canadian dollar edged lower against its US counterpart on Friday as domestic data showing the first retail sales gain in three months failed to impress investors. Canadian retail sales rose 0.4% in July from June on stronger sales of new cars at motor vehicle and parts dealers, Statistics Canada said. The increase was less than the 0.6% gain that analysts expected, while sales volumes saw no growth.
At 3:59 pm (1959 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading 0.1% lower at 1.3273 to the greenback, or 75.34 US cents. The currency, which touched on Wednesday a two-week low intraday at 1.3310, traded in a range of 1.3255 to 1.3300.
For the week, the loonie was up 0.1%. Canadian government bond prices were higher across a flatter yield curve in sympathy with US Treasuries. The two-year rose 5 Canadian cents to yield 1.574% and the 10-year was up 47 Canadian cents to yield 1.387%. That was the lowest yield for the 10-year bond since Sept. 12.