The U.S. dollar <.DXY> weakened against a basket of major currencies on U.S. political uncertainty, while the Mexican peso
"It is a flight out of North America," said Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist at Scotiabank, adding that the euro, Swiss franc and Japanese yen were some of the major currencies that benefited.
Canada's economy grew 0.2 percent in August from July, as expected, on strength in mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction. [nL1N1D11Y7]
"It's a bit weaker than the headline would suggest," but the Bank of Canada will take the data with "cautious optimism," said Derek Holt, vice president and head of capital markets economics at Scotiabank.
Canada will ramp up its spending on infrastructure projects by an extra C$81 billion over the next 12 years in a bid to revitalize an economy struggling with sub-par growth, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said. [nL1N1D21S4]
Firmer investment trends from the federal government improve the platform for growth but we are going to need the private sector kicking into gear as well, said Nick Exarhos, economist at CIBC Capital Markets.
The Canadian dollar
The currency's strongest level of the session was C$1.3353, while its weakest was C$1.3427.
It fell 2.2 percent in October and touched its weakest level in seven months at C$1.3434 on Friday.
Still, the Canadian dollar will strengthen over the coming year as higher oil prices offset higher interest rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve and a more dovish stance from the Bank of Canada, a Reuters poll found. [CAD/POLL]
U.S. crude oil futures
Oil is one of Canada's major exports.
Canadian government bond prices were mixed across the yield curve, with the two-year
(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Paul Simao and James Dalgleish)
By Fergal Smith
