Canadian Dollar Increases as the U.S. Currency Depreciates

By Chris Fournier

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's currency advanced as the U.S. dollar weakened against most major currencies.

``We've seen a little bit of a pullback in the U.S. dollar generally,'' said Steven Barrow, a currency strategist at Standard Bank Plc in London. ``Commodity currencies are doing a bit better against the U.S. dollar. With liquidity being pretty poor, it doesn't take much to move the market these days.''

The Canadian dollar climbed as much as 1.1 percent to C$1.2233 per U.S. dollar, from C$1.2372 on Nov. 14. It traded at C$1.2278 at 8:18 a.m. in Toronto. One Canadian dollar buys 81.45 U.S. cents.

The loonie, as Canada's dollar is known for the aquatic bird on the one-dollar coin, on Oct. 28 hit a four-year low of C$1.3017. It rebounded to C$1.1464 on Nov. 5.

Barrow predicts the Canadian dollar will weaken to C$1.30 within three months. Canada relies on commodities for about a third of its export revenue. The U.S. is Canada's largest trading partner.

The U.S. dollar fell against 11 of the 16 most-actively traded currencies. New Zealand's dollar and South Africa's rand rose 0.5 percent against the greenback while the Australian currency gained 0.3 percent.

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