TORONTO – The Canadian dollar weakened to its lowest level since December against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a flight to safety in global financial markets.
Stock markets globally slumped and the safe-haven U.S. dollar rallied after the biggest attack by one country against another in Europe since World War Two.
The Canadian dollar was trading 0.7% lower at 1.2819 to the greenback, or 78.01 U.S. cents, after touching its weakest intraday level since Dec. 27 at 1.2847.
Still, the commodity-linked loonie fared better than most other G10 currencies. Only the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc performed better against the greenback.
The price of oil, one of Canada’s major exports, climbed 7.60% to $99.10 a barrel as the invasion added to concerns about disruptions to global energy supply.
Higher sales in the petroleum and coal product industry helped drive a 1.3% increase in Canadian factory sales in January from December, a preliminary estimate showed.
Investors stuck with bets for the Bank of Canada to hike interest rates next Wednesday for the first time since October 2018, but longer-term rates tumbled, tracking the move in U.S. Treasuries.
The 10-year yield was down 7.4 basis points to 1.900%.
(Reporting by Fergal Smith; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
