By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, June 19 – The Canadian dollar eased against the US dollar on Friday, undermined by disappointing Canadian retail sales data, analysts said.
According to Statistics Canada, retail sales dropped 0.1 per cent in April, to C$42.5 billion, due to lower sales at food and beverage stores. Pre-report guesses called for retail sales to jump 0.7 per cent.
The Canadian dollar closed at US$0.8153 or US$1=C$1.2266 on Friday, which compares with Thursday’s North American settlement of US$0.8179 or US$1=C$1.2227.
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Ongoing worries about economic problems in Greece were also causing traders to shed riskier assets, such as the Canadian dollar.
Weakness in commodities, including crude oil and gold, added to the bearish tone.
Though, positive Canadian consumer price index (CPI) data was supportive. StatsCan said the CPI rose 0.9 per cent in the 12 months to May, after increasing 0.8 per cent in April.
Canadian bonds ended sharply higher on Friday, reacting to soft domestic retail sales figures and worries about economic issues in Greece, brokers said.
The two-year bond yielded 0.595% Friday, from 0.619% Thursday. The 10-year bond yield was at 1.716%, from 1.791% Bond yields fall as their prices rise.
