By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, September 5 – The Canadian dollar was down slightly relative to the US dollar on Friday, reacting to disappointing Canadian employment data, analyst said.
Statistics Canada said 11,000 jobs were lost in August, falling well below expectations calling for 10,000 newly created jobs.
Weak US employment data was also bearish, as Canada and the US are major trading partners. There were 142,000 new jobs in August in the US, the US Labour Department said. Pre-report expectations called for 220,000 new jobs.
The Canadian dollar closed at US$0.9190 or US$1=C$1.0881 on Friday, which compares with Thursday’s North American settlement of US$ US$0.9196 or US$1=C$1.0874.
Some spillover pressure also came from the declines seen in crude oil prices, though strength in gold and copper was supportive. Chart-based buying also tempered the loonie’s downside, traders said.
Canadian bonds ended mostly higher, finding support from the disappointing North American employment figures, participants said.
The two-year bond yielded 1.115% late Friday, from 1.127% late Thursday. The 10-year bond yielded 2.116%, from 2.124%. Bond yields fall as their prices rise.
