C$ hits 9-month low as soft global data spooks investors

By Fergal Smith

TORONTO (Reuters) -The Canadian dollar weakened to a nine-month low against its broadly stronger U.S. counterpart on Thursday as geopolitical tensions and weak manufacturing data globally weighed on investor sentiment.

The loonie was trading 0.4% lower at 1.3870 to the U.S. dollar, or 72.10 U.S. cents, after touching its weakest intraday level since November at 1.3889.

"The moves in USD-CAD today are coming from the broad USD strength, with the general risk-off tone in markets exacerbated by the headlines in the Middle East and U.S. data downside misses," said Jayati Bharadwaj, a global FX strategist at TD Securities.

The U.S. dollar rose against a basket of major currencies as rising geopolitical tensions provided a safe-haven boost to the currency, and Wall Street's major indexes tumbled.

Manufacturers across the United States, Europe and Asia turned in a weak performance last month as factories grappled with tepid demand, surveys showed, raising the risk of an underpowered global economic recovery.

Canadian factory data was also downbeat. The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to 47.8 in July from 49.3 in June, posting its lowest level since December.

Canada is a major producer of commodities, including oil, so the loonie tends to be sensitive to the outlook for the global economy.

The price of oil settled 2.1% lower at $76.31 a barrel as global supply seemed largely unaffected by worries of a wider Middle East crisis.

Canadian bond yields fell across a steeper curve, tracking a sharp decline in U.S. Treasury yields. The 2-year was down 9.2 basis points at 3.360%, after earlier touching its lowest level since March 2023 at 3.354%.

(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Will Dunham and Alistair Bell)