TORONTO: The Canadian dollar was little changed against its US counterpart on Friday as investors assessed domestic data that showed stronger-than-expected economic growth and awaited the potential implementation of US trade tariffs.
The loonie was trading nearly unchanged at 1.4440 per US dollar, or 69.25 US cents, after touching its weakest intraday level since February 4 at to 1.4453.
For the week, the currency was on track to decline 1.5%. Still, it was up 0.6% since the start of February after recovering from a 22-year low earlier in the month.
Canada’s gross domestic product expanded by 2.6% on an annualized basis in the fourth quarter, surpassing expectations for an increase of 1.8%, helped by a jump in consumer spending.
“The Canadian economy has certainly faced some headwinds but it exited 2024 in a stronger position than believed,” said Adam Button, chief currency analyst at ForexLive.
“Canadian consumers continue to reach into their wallets and spend though I expect tariff threats to reverse some of that in Q1.”