CANADA FX DEBT - Canadian dollar weakens, benchmark yield slips

The loonie was trading 0.3% lower at C$1.3564 to the greenback, or 73.72 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of 1.352 to 1.3588.

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

Canadian government 10-year bond yields fell 5.7 basis points to 3.46%. The yield on similar U.S. government benchmark debt fell to 4.2178%.

U.S. May crude futures rose 19 cents to $81.26 a barrel on Friday.

Canadian retail sales fell 0.3% in February from January. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected retail sales to drop 0.4%.Excluding autos. retail sales fell 0.5% in February, Statistics Canada said.  Analysts had forecast February sales, excluding autos, to be down 0.4%.