Canadian dollar and business outlook

     Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — The Canadian dollar was slightly firmer Thursday morning, a day after the Bank of Canada cut its key overnight interest rate by 50 basis points.

Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits increased by 1.5 per cent in August, with the number of EI beneficiaries up by 5.6 per cent annually. Canada’s unemployment rate came in at 6.6 per cent as of the end of August.

At 9:19 a.m. CDT the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.7227 or US$1=C$1.3841 which compares with Wednesday’s close of US$0.7224 or US$1=C$1.3843.

Crude oil was firmer, with West Texas Intermediate crude oil up by 0.35 per cent at US$71.02 per barrel.

The TSX was weaker in early activity, losing 58.33 points at 9:19 CDT to trade at 24,515.29.