Canada's Currency Depreciates as Stocks and Commodities Drop

By Chris Fournier

Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's currency weakened for a second day as global stocks fell, indicating investors are risk- averse and diminishing the outlook for commodities including oil.

``Equity markets still look extremely vulnerable at this point,'' said Ian Stannard, a senior currency strategist in London at BNP Paribas SA. ``Oil prices are continuing to move lower. This is all going to be unhelpful for the Canadian dollar.'' Stannard forecasts the currency will weaken to C$1.30 by year-end.

The Canadian dollar depreciated as much as 0.6 percent to C$1.2388 per U.S. dollar, from C$1.2312 yesterday. It traded at C$1.2321 at 7:44 a.m. in Toronto. One Canadian dollar buys 81.17 U.S. cents.

The MSCI World Index, a gauge of stocks in 23 developed nations, fell 0.6 percent to 856.09.

Crude oil, which accounts for a tenth of Canada's export revenue, fell for a fourth day to as low as $53.30 a barrel.

Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney will speak at the U.K. Chamber of Commerce in London. His remarks will be posted on the bank's Web site at 8:20 a.m. New York time.

Statistics Canada will release data on international securities transactions and its index of leading indicators at 8:30 a.m. in Ottawa.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Fournier in Montreal at cfournier3@bloomberg.net