Canadian dollar and business outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, May 14 The Canadian dollar was stronger against the US dollar Thursday morning, as crude oil values remained near their highs of the year, analysts said.

At 9:02 CDT Thursday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.8382 or US$=C$1.1930, which compares with Wednesday’s North American close of US$0.8356 or US$1=C$1.1967.

General weakness in the US dollar index, as recent economic data out of the country has been disappointing, was also supportive.

Though, disappointing Canadian housing data limited the upside. Statistics Canada said the New Housing Price Index was unchanged in March, slightly below expectations of a 0.1 per cent jump.

The TSX was up 33.97 points, or 0.23%, at 9:02 CDT Thursday morning to sit at 15,014.69.