960401

Canadian dollar

falls, bonds

mixed

TORONTO: The Canadian dollar closed at C$1.3605 (US$0.7350), little changed from the morning's open at C$1.3598 (US$0.7354), as buying by Canadian banks and U.S. investment funds offset profit-taking, dealer said.

"It's been a combination of both U.S. investment dealers and Canadian banks establishing long Canadian dollar positions," said Reid Farrill, a foreign exchange specialist with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.

While the Canadian dollar had weakened to C$1.3634 (US$0.7334) at midday, traders attributed the move to profit taking after a strong overnight gain. The market saw heavy trading flows, dealers said.

On the crosses, Canada fell to 1.1226 marks from Thursday's close of 1.1252 marks, and slid to 77.58 yen from 78.30 yen.

BONDS MIXED

Canadian bonds closed mixed on Friday as investors refrained from taking positions ahead of a slew of key economic data due next week, analysts said.

"The mood of the market is cautious at this stage," said Andrew Pyle, chief economic with financial analysis firm Path International. "We're looking to a week where we're going to see eleven major US economic releases. We've got a market now that's just basically closing the books quietly."

Canada's 9.0 percent and due 2025 closed unchanged at C$108.81 to yield 8.199 percent while the US 30-year bond rose 4/32 to yield 6.79 percent.

Statistics Canada also said the raw material price index rose 3.4 percent in March. A Reuters survery of economists had forecast that the index would rise by 2.4 percent in March.

In other prices, the 8.75 percent of 2005 fell C$0.01 to C$107.17 to yield 7.678 percent against the US 10-year benchmark, which yielded 6.54 percent for a spread of 114 basis points, unchanged from Thursday's close.-Reuter