Canadian dollar and business outlook

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Glacier FarmMedia|MarketsFarm–The Canadian dollar was slightly softer Thursday morning as currency markets continued to react to Wednesday’s interest rate cut in the United States.

At 8:50 a.m. CDT the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.7353 or US$1=C$1.3599, which compares with Wednesday’s close of US$0.7358 or US$1=C$1.3590.

An estimated 489,000 Canadians were receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits in July, which was up by 2.2 per cent from the previous month and marked a 10.0 per cent increase on the year, according to a report from Statistics Canada. The unemployment rate was up by 0.3 points from June, at 6.4 per cent.

Crude oil was stronger in early activity, with West Texas Intermediate crude oil up by 0.75 per cent at US$71.44 per barrel.

The TSX was stronger, rising by 136.80 points at 8:50 CDT to trade at 23,729.40.