The Canadian dollar weakened against the greenback on Tuesday,
and the yield on benchmark government debt climbed.
The loonie was trading 0.3% lower at C$1.3462 to the
greenback, or 74.28 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of
1.3425 to 1.35.
Canadian government 10-year bond yields rose 5.8
basis points to 3.286%. The yield on similar U.S. government
benchmark debt rose to 4.0182%.
U.S. February crude futures fell 2 cents to $72.66 a
barrel on Tuesday.
Canadian housing starts in Decemberrose more than expected to
249,300 units from a revised 210,900 units the previous month,
the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said.
A survey of 14 economists polled by Reuters had forecast
December housing starts rising to 243,000 units.
Canada's annual inflation rate accelerated to 3.4% in December,
up from 3.1% in November, Statistics Canada said. Analysts
polled by Reuters had expected an annual rate of 3.4%