CANADA FX DEBT - Canadian dollar strengthens, benchmark yield slips

The Canadian dollar strengthened against the greenback on Friday, and the yield on benchmark government debt slipped.

The loonie CAD= was trading 0.2% higher at C$1.4163 to the greenback, or 70.61 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of 1.4156 to 1.4201.

Canadian government 10-year bond yields CA10YT=RR fell 3 basis points to 3.087%. The yield on similar U.S. government benchmark debt fell to 4.4724%.

U.S. March crude CLc1 futures rose 20 cents to $71.49 a barrel on Friday.

Canadian factory sales fell 0.3% in December from the previous month, Statistics Canada said. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected factory sales growth of 0.7%.