CANADA FX DEBT - Canadian dollar strengthens, benchmark yield climbs

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

The loonie USDCAD was trading 0.1% higher at C$1.3713 to the greenback, or 72.92 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of 1.3709 to 1.3738.

Canadian government 10-year bond yields (CA10YT=RR) rose 0.5 basis points to 3.625%. The yield on similar U.S. government benchmark debt rose to 4.4965%.

U.S. July crude CL1! futures remained unchanged at $76.87 a barrel on Friday.

Canadian retail sales fell 0.2% in April from March. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected retail sales to be flat.Excluding autos. retail sales fell 0.6% in April, Statistics Canada said. Analysts had forecast April sales, excluding autos, to be up 0.1%.