The Canadian dollar slumped today, extending its decline from the highest level in this month, as crude oil, the main nation’s export, declined and the wholesale sales declined, reducing the appeal of the Canadian currency.

January delivery for crude oil gained 0.8 percent to $88.75 per barrel and then dropped 0.9 percent to $87.26. Oil declined on the concerns that the financial crisis in Europe would spread. The wholesale sales in Canada remained unchanged at $44.9 billion in October, while they were expected to rise by 0.8 percent after advancing 0.7 percent in September.

On December 15th the Canadian currency reached parity with the US dollar, touching the highest level this month. Unfortunately for the loonie, as the Canadian currency is often called, it tends to drop after reaching parity as this level is hard to sustain because of the traders’ psychology.

USD/CAD traded at 1.0187 as of 19:01 GMT after it opened at 1.0122. EUR/CAD went up from 1.3329 to 1.3369.

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