Canadian dollar and business outlook

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

  Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar was holding onto small gains relative to its United States counterpart Friday morning, in choppy pre-weekend trade. The Bank of Canada releases its next interest rate decision on Feb. 29, and currency traders will be following the announcement closely for hints on the Bank’s policy intentions going forward.

At 8:47 a.m. CST the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.7419 or US$1=C$1.3479, which compares with Thursday’s close of US$0.7411 or US$1=C$1.3494.

Crude oil was softer in early trade, with West Texas Intermediate crude down by 2.19 per cent at US$76.89 per barrel.

The TSX was weaker, losing 15.67 points at 8:47 CST to trade at 21,302.41 points.