TORONTO (Bloomberg) — The Canadian dollar advanced to within one cent of parity with its US counterpart as signs of global economic recovery boosted stocks, commodities and currencies tied to growth.

The loonie, as Canada's currency is nicknamed, touched C$1.0068 yesterday, its strongest level in almost two weeks. Canada's dollar strengthened against 11 of its 16 major counterparts over the previous four days as a report on March 31 showed the nation's economy grew in January at the fastest pace in three years.

"Commodity prices reflect stronger global growth and dulls demand for the US dollar," said Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group Inc. in Greenwich, Connecticut. "Parity is imminent. It's very, very difficult to argue against the global economic rebound."

The loonie gained 1.7 percent to C$1.0095 versus the greenback last week from C$1.0266 on March 26, its biggest gain since the five days ended March 5. One Canadian dollar buys 99.15 US cents. Canadian markets were closed for the Good Friday holiday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose for a fifth straight week, closing at its highest level since September 2008. Crude oil for May delivery rose 6.5 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude oil is Canada's biggest export.

The Canadian dollar tends to track movements in stocks and commodities. The loonie's 120-day correlation with crude is 0.61 and 0.67 with the S&P 500. A reading of 1 would indicate they move in lockstep.

Crude oil gained as much as 1.7 percent to a 17- month high of $85.22 a barrel after economic data from the world's three largest economies reinforced confidence in the global economic rebound. US manufacturing expanded last month at the fastest pace since July 2004, China's manufacturing grew for a 13th month and a Bank of Japan survey showed confidence among the nation's largest manufacturers rose for a fourth straight quarter.