Canadian Dollar And Business Outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, January 22 The Canadian dollar was trading at a steady level compared to the US dollar at 9:04 CST Tuesday, as traders were wary of pushing it too far one way or the other ahead of upcoming statements from several major banks, analysts said.

Bank of England and European Central Bank officials will make announcements later Tuesday, while the Bank of Canada will release its latest policy rate report on Wednesday.

At 9:04 CST Tuesday, the Canadian dollar was at US$1.0065 or US$=C$0.9935, which compares with Monday’s North American close of US$1.0068 or US$=C$0.9932.

Strong commodity prices, including crude oil, gold and copper, helped to underpin the value of the Canadian dollar.

Better than anticipated Canadian retail sales data also provided support for the loonie, participants said. According to Statistics Canada, retail sales were up 0.2% to C$39.4 billion in November, marking a fifth consecutive monthly sales gain.

The TSX was up down 23.25 points, or 0.18%, at 9:04 CST Tuesday morning to sit at 12,771.00.