Canadian dollar and business outlook

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — The Canadian dollar was softer relative to its United States counterpart Friday morning.

Positioning ahead of next week’s interest rate announcement from the Bank of Canada was a feature, with many investors now anticipating a 50-basis-point cut to the central bank’s overnight rate.

At 8:52 a.m. CDT the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.7242 or US$1=C$1.3808 which compares with Thursday’s close of US$0.7252 or US$1=C$1.3789.

Crude oil was weaker, with West Texas Intermediate crude oil down by 1.60 per cent at US$69.54 per barrel.

The TSX was stronger, up 37.09 points at 8:52 CDT to trade at 24,727.57.