Canadian Forex/Bond Review: C$ Ends Lower With Jobs Data

By Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, September 4 – The Canadian dollar ended lower Friday, relative to its US counterpart in the wake of North America jobs report.

At 4:00 CDT Friday, the loonie was at US$0.7541 or US$1 = C$1.3260.

The Canadian dollar swung up and down right after jobs figures were released for both Canada and the US. Crude oil prices then increased which gave the loonie additional support.

However, most analysts viewed the second-quarter labour productivity figures as troubling. They fell by 0.6% in a pace that was steeper than expected.

In the US, nonfarm payrolls shot upward at a seasonally adjusted rate of 173,000 in August. The US jobless rate fell to 5.1% which was its lowest level since 2008.

Canadian bonds were mixed Friday with shorter-term issuances underperforming the rest of the curb.

Canada’s two-year bond yield was at 0.444% Friday, up from 0.431% late Thursday, according to electronic trading platform CanDeal. The 10-year bond yield was at 1.437%, down from 1.463%. Bond yields move inversely to prices.

The bond market closed early due to the long weekend.