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The Canadian dollar lost ground against its broadly stronger U.S. counterpart on Friday as investors worried about signs of slower global growth and after the debt rating of Canada’s most populous province was downgraded by Moody’s.

At 10:24 a.m., the Canadian dollar was trading 0.2 per cent lower at 1.3378 to the greenback, or 74.75 U.S. cents.

The currency traded in a range of 1.3346 to 1.3402. It was on track to fall 0.4 per cent for the week.

Stocks and the price of oil, one of Canada’s major exports, fell as weak economic data from China and Europe exacerbated global growth fears and added to unease over the trade dispute between the United States and China.

U.S. crude prices were down 1.8 per cent at $51.66 a barrel.

In contrast, solid U.S. store sales in November supported the notion the world’s largest economy is expanding at a steady clip, boosting the greenback against a basket of major currencies.

Credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded the issuer and long-term debt rating of Ontario, Canada’s industrial heartland, to Aa3 from Aa2 due to the fiscal challenges facing the province over the medium-term.

Last month, the province’s new Conservative government said it will run a budget deficit of $14.5 billion in 2018-19, its widest in seven years.

Ontario has one of the largest subsovereign debts in the world. The additional yield it pays to borrow over 10 years compared to Quebec widened by 0.5 basis points to 5.5 basis points, the widest spread since June 7.

In Canadian data, the ratio of household debt-to-income widened to 173.8 per cent in the third quarter, to hold near a record high, from an upwardly revised 173.2 per cent in the second quarter, data from Statistics Canada showed.

Canadian government bond prices were higher across the yield curve, with the 10-year rising 37 cents to yield 2.115 per cent.

The gap between Canada’s 10-year yield and its U.S. equivalent widened by 3.1 basis points to a spread of 78.4 basis points in favour of the U.S. bond.

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 8:47am EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
CADUSD-FX
Canadian Dollar/U.S. Dollar
-0.07%0.73649

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