Canadian dollar and business outlook

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — The Canadian dollar was weaker Friday morning, hitting fresh multi-year lows relative to its United States counterpart.

At 8:36 a.m. CST the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.7034 or US$1=C$1.4217 which compares with Thursday’s close of US$0.7048 or US$1=C$1.4188.

Canadian manufacturing sales rose 2.1 per cent in October to C$70.8 billion, reported Statistics Canada. Petroleum and coal products led the way, with a 15.9 per cent increase in sales. Meanwhile, wholesale sales (excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain) were up 1.0 per cent to C$83.7 billion.

Crude oil was firmer Friday morning, with West Texas Intermediate crude oil up by 0.56 per cent at US$70.41 per barrel.

The TSX was weaker, losing 41.18 points at 8:36 CST to trade at 25,369.53.