Canada's dollar on Friday sank to its weakest against the US dollar in more than seven weeks on growing anxiety that the euro debt crisis could lead to a break-up of the currency bloc. Investors were rattled by word that Italy paid a record 6.5 percent to borrow money over six months and that its longer-term funding costs soared. Standard & Poor's downgrade of Belgium's credit rating to AA from AA-plus added to a growing list of danger signals.
The news pushed Canadian stocks lower for a third straight session on Friday, while global equity markets retreated on fear that policymakers have no clear path of resolving Europe's debt crisis. "The Belgium downgrade was the key headline that drew market attention," said Greg Moore, foreign exchange strategist at TD Securities.
"It added to the overall sovereign credit and bank funding stresses that have been building over the past week. That's just the latest symptom of the overall issues." The Canadian dollar ended at C$1.0494 to the US dollar, or 95.29 US cents, after earlier hitting a low of C$1.0524 to the US dollar, or 95.02 US cents, its weakest level since October 5. On Thursday, the currency ended at C$1.0469 to the greenback or 95.52 US cents.