The Canadian dollar strengthened today against its US counterpart as crude oil, the key export of Canada, rallied to the highest level in more than two years, but the loonie declined versus other commodity currencies as Canada’s economy grew in October less than expected.

Canada’s gross domestic product increased 0.2 percent in October following the 0.1 percent decline in September. The forecasts promised the growth by 0.3 percent. Among the sectors contributed to the slower growth were manufacturing, construction, utilities, retail trade as well as the finance and insurance, all of which retreated.

February delivery for crude oil surged as much as 1.3 percent to $91.63 per barrel in New York, the highest price since October 2008. The Canadian currency headed for the 0.5 percent gain on the week, following losses the previous two. The currency has advanced 4.4 percent this year against the greenback, being the ninth best-performing among 16 major currencies.

USD/CAD retreated from the opening level of 1.0131 to 1.0092 as of 22:16 GMT today. AUD/CAD traded near 1.0135 after it opened at 1.0119 and reached the intraday high of 1.0196.

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