Canadian dollar and business outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, December 23 The Canadian dollar strengthened against its US counterpart on Tuesday, as crude oil futures gained and Canada’s economy held steady.

At 8:40 a.m. CST the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7206 or C$1.3877 which compares with Tuesday’s North American close of US$0.7175, or C$1.3937.

At 8:40 a.m., New York Mercantile crude oil futures had gained US$0.53 to sit at US$36.67 a barrel.

In Canadian domestic data, real gross domestic product was unchanged in October, after falling 0.5 per cent in September. Gains in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction as well as the public sector were offset by declines in manufacturing, utilities and retail trade, Statistics Canada said in a report on Wednesday.

The TSX was stronger in early activity, up 87.31 points at 8:40 a.m. CST to sit at 13,170.17.