Canadian dollar and business outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, October 26 The Canadian dollar strengthened against its US counterpart Monday after an early rally in crude oil futures.

At 8:40 a.m. CDT the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7608 or C$1.3144 which compares with Friday’s North American close of US$0.7590, or C$1.3175.

New York crude oil futures were moving down at 8:40 a.m., but had gained 16 cents, or 0.4 per cent in early activity.

In Canadian domestic data, the New Lending Services Price Index decreased 5.1 per cent in the second quarter, following a 10.9 per cent increase in the previous quarter, Statistics Canada said in a report on Monday.

According to StatsCan, the index was up 9.1 per cent in the second quarter compared with the same quarter in 2014. Recent changes in the index were driven primarily by changes in the yields on Government of Canada securities.

The TSX was weaker in early activity, down 11.36 points at 8:40 a.m. CDT to sit at 13,942.30.