Canadian Dollar and Business Outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, March 8 (CNS Canada) – The Canadian dollar was weaker Tuesday morning, as soft Chinese trade data weighed on the global equity markets.

At 9:14 CST Tuesday morning the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7471 or C$1.3385 which compares with Monday’s North American close of US$0.7532 or C$1.3276.

Chinese exports fell 25.4% in February compared to the previous year, according to a report out of the country. Imports were also down, falling 13.8%. The decline was the biggest in over six years and was taken as a sign of the shaky world economy.

In domestic data, the value of building permits issues in Canada fell 9.8% in January compared to the previous month, according to Statistics Canada data. The drop was much larger than analyst expectations.

The TSX was weaker, down 75.54 points at 9:14 CST to sit at 13,308.06.