Canadian dollar and business outlook

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — The Canadian dollar was slightly weaker relative to its United States counterpart Tuesday morning.

At 8:46 a.m. CDT the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.7222 or US$1=C$1.3847 which compares with Monday’s close of US$0.7236 or US$1=C$1.3820.

Canada’s Industrial Product Price Index was up 0.5 per cent in March compared to the previous month, posting an annual increase of 4.7 per cent, reported Statistics Canada. Meanwhile, the country’s Raw Materials Price Index declined 1.0 per cent on the month but was still up 3.9 per cent from the same time a year ago.

Crude oil was firmer in early trade, taking back some of Monday’s losses with West Texas Intermediate crude oil up by 1.14 per cent at US$63.80 per barrel.

The TSX was up by 267.02 points at 8:46 CDT to trade at 24,275.88.