Canadian dollar and business outlook

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

At 8:40 a.m. CDT the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.7225 or US$1=C$1.3841 which compares with Tuesday’s close of US$0.7232 or US$1=C$1.3827.

News U.S. President Donald Trump was backtracking on his threats to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell supported equity markets in early trade. Talk of a possible trade deal between the U.S. and China was also circulating.

The TSX was up by 271.84 points at 8:40 CDT to trade at 24,577.82.

Crude oil was softer in early trade, with West Texas Intermediate crude oil down by 0.80 per cent at US$63.16 per barrel.