Canadian dollar and business outlook

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — The Canadian dollar was slightly firmer Wednesday morning.

At 9:33 a.m. CDT the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.7160 or US$1=C$1.3966 which compares with Tuesday’s close of US$0.7159 or US$1=C$1.3969.

The value of building permits issued in Canada fell by 4.1 per cent in March compared to the previous month, coming in at C$549.4 million, reported Statistics Canada. The non-residential sector was down by C$716.3 million, while the residential sector increased by C$166.9 million.

The TSX was holding near unchanged in early activity, down by only 7.77 points at 9:33 CDT to trade at 25,609.09.

Crude oil was softer in early trade, with West Texas Intermediate crude oil down by 0.35 per cent at US$63.45 per barrel.