Canadian Dollar And Business Outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, February 20 The Canadian dollar was trading at a lower level versus its US counterpart at 8:58 CST Wednesday, amid continued concerns about the impending US sequester that could hurt economic growth in the country, analysts said.

The sequester, a package of spending cuts worth US$85 billion, will come into effect at the end of February unless US lawmakers can come to an agreement to make more specific budget cuts.

At 8:58 CST Wednesday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.9833 or US$=C$1.0170, which compares with Tuesday’s North American close of US$0.9883 or US$=C$1.0118.

Weak commodity prices also put downward pressure on the value of the Canadian dollar.

The TSX was down 1.14 points, or 0.01%, at 8:58 CST Wednesday morning to sit at 12,809.07.