Canadian dollar and business outlook

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar was slightly firmer Thursday morning, as expectations that the United States Federal Reserve will be unlikely to cut interest rates anytime soon provided support.

At 8:52 a.m. CST the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.7413 or US$1=C$1.3490, which compares with Wednesday’s close of US$0.7401 or US$1=C$1.3512.

Retail sales in Canada were up by 0.9 per cent in December compared to the previous month, at C$67.3 billion, according to a report from Statistics Canada, with total sales in 2023 of C$794.4 billion up by 2.2 per cent on the year. Advanced data for January shows a 0.4 per cent decrease in sales in the first month of 2024.

A total of 464,000 Canadians were receiving regular Employment Insurance in December, which was up by 1.4 per cent from the previous month and by 14.8 per cent annually.

Crude oil was steady in early trade, with West Texas Intermediate crude up by 0.13 per cent at US$78.01 per barrel.

The TSX was stronger, gaining 169.52 points at 8:52 CST to trade at 21,341.90 points.