Canadian Dollar and Business Outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, March 4 – The Canadian dollar was slightly weaker
Friday morning on news that Canada’s trade deficit had widened slightly.
According to new data, the country posted a trade deficit in January of C$655 million.
At 9:02 CST Friday morning the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7460
or C$1.3404 which compares with Thursday’s North American close of
US$0.7465 or C$1.3396.
The US Labour Department’s report on non-farm payrolls showed an increase of 242,000 jobs in February, which exceeded analysts’ expectations.
Advances in crude oil and gold issues were also supportive for the market.
At 9:02 a.m., New York Mercantile crude oil futures (April contract) had gained US$0.24 to sit at US$34.81 a barrel. The April gold contract climbed $19.90 to US$1,278.10 an ounce.
The TSX was stronger, up 82.31 points at 9:02 CST to sit at
13,205.96.