Canadian dollar and business outlook

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar was slightly softer relative to its United States counterpart in early Friday trade.

At 8:36 a.m. CDT the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.7393 or US$1=C$1.3526, which compares with Thursday’s close of US$0.7401 or US$1=C$1.3512.

Canada’s balance of trade saw a net inflow of C$16.5 billion in January, as foreign investors increased their holdings of Canadian securities by C$8.9 billion during the month and Canadian investors reduced their foreign securities holdings by C$7.6 billion, according to a report from Statistics Canada.

Wholesale sales in Canada were up by 0.1 per cent in January, according to a separate StatCan report, hitting C$82.4 billion.

Canadian housing starts hit 253,300 units in February, according to a report from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. That beat expectations and compares with the revised reading of 223,200 units for January.

Crude oil was steady, with West Texas Intermediate crude oil down by 0.37 per cent at US$80.96 per barrel.

The TSX was firm, up by 18.32 points at 8:36 CDT to trade at 21,848.59 points.