The Canadian dollar weakened to a near three-week low against its U.S. counterpart on Monday as recent widening in the gap between Canadian and U.S. short-term yields weighed on the loonie.

The loonie was trading 0.3% lower at 1.4055 per U.S. dollar, or 71.15 U.S. cents, after touching its weakest intraday level since October 14 at 1.4075.

“The main driving force we see leading USD-CAD at the moment is the 2-year yield spread,” said Amo Sahota, director at Klarity FX in San Francisco. “It remains the strongest correlation factor in our USD-CAD fair value model.”

The Canadian 2-year yield was trading 119 basis points below the equivalent U.S. rate, compared to a gap of 92 basis points in late August. Investors tend to favour the higher-yielding currency.

Last week, the Bank of Canada cu

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