The Canadian dollar weakened against its US counterpart on Friday as oil prices fell, but the loonie still advanced for a second consecutive week after the Bank of Canada said the challenges facing the economy were temporary. At 2:51 p.m. (1951 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading 0.2 percent lower at 1.3265 to the greenback, or 75.39 US cents.

The currency, which on Wednesday touched its strongest intraday level in more than 5 weeks at 1.3180, traded in a range of 1.3183 to 1.3275. For the week the loonie was up 0.8 percent. The Bank of Canada held interest rates steady as expected on Wednesday but said more rate increases would be necessary even though low oil prices and a weak housing market will harm the economy in the short term.

Copyright Reuters, 2019