Canadian Dollar And Business Outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, January 9 The Canadian dollar was trading at a firmer level versus its US counterpart at 9:00 CST Wednesday, supported by better than expected Canadian housing starts data, analysts said.

Canadian housing starts were down 1.7% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 197,976 in December, beating expectations of 195,000 starts.

At 9:00 CST Wednesday, the Canadian dollar was at US$1.0140 or US$=C$0.9862, which compares with Tuesday’s North American close of US$1.0135 or US$=C$0.9867.

Strong crude oil prices also helped to underpin the Canadian dollar on Wednesday.

The Canadian currency is expected to trade range bound versus its US counterpart for most of the day due to a lack of fresh news.

The TSX was up 8.95 points, or 0.07%, at 9:00 CST Wednesday morning to sit at 12,513.76.