The Canadian dollar climbed to an almost six-year high on Monday to close at US73.36 cents in New York. Meanwhile, Wall Street indexes suffered the biggest declines in nearly two months.

The Dow closed down 185.58 at 8,493.39, and the Nasdaq fell 45.76, to 1,492.77, both on fears that the declining dollar would affect foreign investment in the United States. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index also dropped 23.53, to 920.77

Overnight the U.S. dollar slid to multiyear lows against the euro and the Japanese yen, but is trading slightly stronger against the Euro this morning. Canadian currency is trading at US73.87 cents, up 0.59 of a cent.

Wall Street futures trading point to a modestly positive open after yesterday’s steep losses. Overseas markets are generally stronger, with the FTSE 100 index up 0.8% early in the afternoon in London, up 33 points at 3,974.3. The Frankfurt DAX is up 0.7%, and Paris gained 0.5%.

Japan’s Nikkei average closed with a minor gain of 20.35 points at 8,059.48 on buying by bargain hunters and public pension funds. Tokyo’s benchmark index had lost more than 200 points in the previous three sessions. Car makers, notably Honda, Nissan and Toyota were among the day’s winners.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index declined 36.97 points to 9,050.4.

Statistics Canada reported Tuesday foreign holdings of Canadian securities rose strongly in March for a second consecutive month. Foreign investors increased their bond holdings by $5.1 billion in February and $8 billion in March. The trend results in almost $5.9 billion, the largest net new issuance since November 2001, raised mainly by corporations, federal enterprises and provinces. A further $1.9 billion came from foreign investment in existing government and corporate bonds.

Canadian investors meanwhile sold off a record $2.2 billion in foreign equities in March, but continued to buy foreign bonds. The sale of equities continues to be largely driven by reductions in mutual fund foreign equity portfolios.