Canadian Dollar Trades Near 30-Year High on Inflation Concern

July 17 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's dollar traded near a 30- year high before a government report tomorrow that is forecast to show consumer inflation accelerated in June.
The currency has gained 11.7 percent this year as the Bank of Canada raised its benchmark interest rate after inflation exceeded the bank's target of 2 percent. Crude oil traded near the highest in more than 11 months, boosting the outlook for revenue from Canada's commodity exports.
``Inflation in Canada will remain above the Bank of Canada's target for the foreseeable future,'' said Marc Levesque, chief fixed-income and currency strategist at TD Securities Inc. in Toronto. That degree of inflation ``will certainly help the currency,'' which will also need higher commodity prices to extend its advance, he said. Commodities account for about half of Canada's exports.
The Canadian dollar rose to 95.84 U.S. cents at 4:10 p.m. in Toronto, from 95.80 U.S. cents yesterday, when it reached 96 cents, the highest since February 1977. One U.S. dollar buys C$1.0434.
Canadian consumer prices, excluding volatile items such as energy, probably rose to 2.6 percent in June from a year earlier, after a 2.2 percent gain the previous month, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. Statistics Canada will release the report at 7 a.m. New York time tomorrow.