Canadian Dollar And Business Outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, January 9 – The Canadian dollar opened weaker against
its US counterpart on Thursday, undermined by weaker-than-expected
Canadian economic data, industry watchers said.
According to Statistics Canada, building permits were down for the
first time in the past three months during November, dropping 6.7% to
C$6.8 billion. Economists were expecting permits to be down 2.7%.
Further downward pressure came from better-than-expected US labour
data, brokers said. The US Department of Labour said claims for jobless
benefits during the week ended January 4 were down by 15,000 to a
seasonally adjusted 330,000. Economists were calling for the seasonally
adjusted rate to fall to 335,000.
Losses seen in commodities, including gold and copper, were also
bearish.
At 8:44 CST Thursday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.9212 or
US$=C$1.0855 which compares with Wednesday’s North American close of
US$0.9256, or US$=C$1.0804.
The TSX was up 3.00 points Thursday morning at 8:44 CST, to sit at
13,617.63.