Canadian dollar and business outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, September 1 – The Canadian dollar strengthened
against its US counterpart Tuesday morning as Statistics Canada
released a report on real gross domestic product, showing both good
and bad economic indicators.

At 9:00 a.m. CDT the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7613 or C$1.3135
which compares with Monday’s North American close of US$0.7601, or
C$1.3157.

Real gross domestic product (GDP) declined 0.1 per cent in the
second quarter, following a 0.2 per cent decrease in the first
quarter, Statistics Canada said in a report on Tuesday. That moves
Canada into a technical recession, defined by the federal government
as two consecutive quarters of decline.

However, StatsCan said real GDP rose 0.5 per cent in June after
falling for five consecutive months, which is better than analysts’
expectations for a 0.2 per cent increase.

The TSX was weaker in early activity, down 246.20 points at 9:00
a.m. CDT to sit at 13,612.92.