Canadian dollar and business outlook

Glacier FarmMedia — The Canadian dollar was firmer Wednesday morning, with gains in crude oil supportive for the energy-linked currency.

At 8:40 a.m. CDT the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.7316 or US$1=C$1.3669 which compares with Tuesday’s close of US$0.7308 or US$1=C$1.3684.

The total value of building permits issued in Canada decreased by 6.6 per cent in April to C$11.7 billion, reported Statistics Cananda.

China and the United States reached a tentative trade deal, agreeing to a framework and implementation phase to ease tariffs.

Crude oil strengthened on the back of that news, with West Texas Intermediate up 1.92 per cent at US$66.20 per barrel.

The TSX was up 95.46 points at 8:40 CDT to trade at 26,521.77.