Canada's Dollar Climbs for First Time This Week as Oil Gains

By Chris Fournier

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's currency rose for the first time this week against its U.S. counterpart as the price of oil rebounded from the lowest in almost two years.

``Much of the move is due to oil prices,'' said David Watt, a senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto. ``The market has come to grips with what is going on in oil prices. It is longer-term oil demand that is more pressing.''

RBC Capital predicts the Canadian dollar will weaken to C$1.27 by the end of this year.

The Canadian dollar strengthened as much as 0.8 percent to C$1.2291 per U.S. dollar, from C$1.2382 yesterday. It traded at C$1.2342 at 8:11 a.m. in Toronto. One Canadian dollar buys 81.10 U.S. cents.

The loonie, as Canada's dollar is known because of the aquatic bird on the one-dollar coin, fell 2.5 percent yesterday and has declined 14 percent this quarter. Crude, which accounts for about a tenth of export revenue, has lost 38 percent in a year.

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