Canadian dollar and business outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, MB, November 12, 2015 (CNS Canada) The Canadian dollar weakened against its US counterpart Thursday morning as crude oil prices fell and the US released strong labour force data.

At 8:40 a.m. CST the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7505 or C$1.3324 which compares with Tuesday’s North American close of US$0.7539, or C$1.3265.

At 8:40 a.m. New York mercantile crude oil futures had lost US$0.68 to sit at US$42.25 a barrel.

The US Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits for the week ended November 7 sat around 276,000, which is consistent with a healthy labour force.

In Canadian domestic data, the New Housing Price Index (NHPI) edged up 0.1 per cent in September, following a 0.3 per cent increase in August, Statistics Canada said in a report on Thursday.

According to StatsCan, the census metropolitan area of Vancouver, and the combined region of Toronto and Oshawa were the top contributors to the national increase.

The TSX was weaker in early activity, down 127.6 points at 8:40 a.m. CST to sit at 13,214.34.