TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar added to this week's decline against its U.S. counterpart on Friday as fear that trade tensions between the United States and China could ramp up offset higher oil prices.
U.S. stock index futures fell after the Trump administration moved to block shipments of semiconductors to China's Huawei Technologies from global chipmakers. A renewed Sino-U.S. trade war could exacerbate the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
Canada runs a current account deficit and it is a major producer of commodities, including oil, so the loonie tends to be sensitive to the global flow of trade and capital.
U.S. crude oil futures (CLc1) were up 2.4% at $28.23 a barrel amid signs demand for crude was picking up, with China reporting increased refinery runs and rounding out a week of bullish news on the supply front.
At 8:44 a.m. (1244 GMT), the Canadian dollar
The Bank of Canada, which has slashed interest rates to near zero, will release the results of its senior loan officer survey at 10:30 a.m. (1430 GMT). The survey collects information on the business-lending practices of Canadian financial institutions.
On Thursday, the central bank said in an annual review of Canada's financial systems that "access to liquidity has greatly improved in key financial markets" even as it expressed concern over vulnerabilities in the energy sector.
Canadian government bond yields were mixed across a flatter curve, with the 10-year (CA10YT=RR) down 1.7 basis points at 0.510%.