The Canadian dollar weakened against the greenback on Friday, and the yield on benchmark government debt climbed. The loonie was trading 0.1% lower at C$1.3723 to the greenback, or 72.87 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of 1.3702 to 1.3725. Canadian government 10-year bond yields rose 2.4 basis points to 3.405%. The yield on similar U.S. government benchmark debt rose to 4.2409%. U.S. August crude futures fell 9 cents to $82.73 a barrel on Friday. Canadian retail sales fell 0.8% in June from May. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected retail sales to drop 0.6%.Excluding autos, retail sales fell 1.3% in June, Statistics Canada said. Analysts had forecast June sales, excluding autos, to be down 0.5%.
