Canada's Dollar Gains After Building Permits Unexpectedly Rise

By Chris Fournier

Nov. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's currency rose after a report showed building permits unexpectedly increased.

``Better-than-expected domestic building permits amidst an overall rebound for major currencies against the U.S. dollar'' is boosting the Canadian dollar, said Jack Spitz, managing director of foreign exchange at National Bank of Canada in Toronto. A ``probe through technical support at C$1.1660'' is also helping the Canadian currency.

The Canadian dollar strengthened 0.6 percent to C$1.1630 versus the U.S. dollar at 8:54 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.1696 yesterday. One Canadian dollar buys 85.97 U.S. cents.

The total value of permits issued by municipalities gained 13.4 percent in September. A decline of 1 percent was forecast, according to the median estimate of 13 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

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