CANADA FX DEBT-Canadian dollar posts weekly decline as investors weigh US tariff ruling

By Fergal Smith

TORONTO, Feb 20 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar added slightly to a weekly decline against its U.S. counterpart on Friday as investors weighed mixed domestic retail sales data and a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on tariffs.

The loonie CAD= was trading 0.1% lower at 1.3687 per U.S. dollar, or 73.06 U.S. cents, after moving in a range of 1.3671 to 1.3710. For the week, the currency was down 0.5% as domestic data showed inflation cooling and the U.S. dollar posted broad-based gains.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs that he pursued under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law meant for use in national emergencies.

"The ruling will have less impact on Canadian trade than most other countries," Claire Fan and Nathan Janzen, economists at RBC, said in a note.

Most Canadian exports were already exempt from IEEPA tariffs, while product-specific tariff measures that have been a larger issue for the Canadian economy were not impacted by the court ruling, the economists said.

Canadian lumber, steel and aluminum, as well as auto content that is not compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement face hefty U.S. tariffs.

Canadian retail sales decreased by 0.4% in December on a monthly basis, led by a drop in sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers. A preliminary estimate showed sales rebounding by 1.5% in January.

"Ultimately, consumer spending is holding in despite ongoing economic uncertainty," Shelly Kaushik, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said in a note.

The price of oil CLc1, one of Canada's major exports, settled 0.1% lower at $66.39 a barrel as markets expected U.S. military action against Iran would not happen until next week.

Canadian government bond yields edged lower across the curve. The 10-year CA10YT=RR was down 1.4 basis points at 3.220%, after earlier touching its lowest level since December 1 at 3.199%.