Investing.com - The Canadian dollar was lower against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, giving back almost all of the prior week’s gains as investors awaited the release of the latest business outlook survey from the country’s central bank.
USD/CAD was up 0.50% to 1.3384 by 10.13 ET from Friday’s close of 1.3317.
The loonie added 0.6% last week after data on Friday showing that the economy grew by a larger than forecast 0.6% in January fueled expectations that the Bank of Canada could raise interest rates sooner than had been anticipated.
Despite the upbeat data, BoC Governor Stephen Poloz reiterated Friday that economic growth remains uneven.
The BoC was to publish its business outlook report, which surveys about 100 companies for their expectations on sales, hiring and other factors influencing business decisions at 10.30 ET.
Lower prices for oil, a major Canadian export also pressured the loonie.
Oil prices remained under pressure amid concerns over rising U.S. shale production at a time when other major suppliers are cutting output in order to reduce a global supply glut and shore up the market.
In the U.S., reports indicated that manufacturing growth slowed slightly in March, but construction spending rose to an almost eleven year high.
The Institute for Supply Management said its index of manufacturing activity fell to 57.2 last month from February’s reading of 57.7.
At the same time the Commerce Department reported that construction spending increased 0.8% to $1.19 trillion last month, the most April 2006.
In a separate report, financial data company Markit said its U.S. manufacturing index ticked down to 53.3 from 54.2 in February.