CANADA FX DEBT - Canadian dollar weakens, benchmark yield slips

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

The loonie CAD= was trading 0.2% lower at C$1.4356 to the greenback, or 69.66 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of 1.4314 to 1.4357.

Canadian government 10-year bond yields CA10YT=RR fell 4.9 basis points to 2.969%. The yield on similar U.S. government benchmark debt fell to 4.2061%.

U.S. May crude CLc1 futures fell 13 cents to $67.94 a barrel on Friday.

Canadian retail sales fell 0.6% in February from January. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected retail sales to drop 0.4%.Excluding autos, retail sales fell 0.2% in February, Statistics Canada said. Analysts had forecast February sales, excluding autos, to be down 0.2%.