Canadian dollar and business outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, March 10 The Canadian dollar gained lost ground against its US counterpart on Thursday, as the greenback strengthened and crude oil futures weakened.

At 8:50 a.m. CST the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7525 or C$1.3289 which compares with Wednesday’s North American close of US$0.7547, or C$1.3250.

The US dollar strengthened as the European Central Bank cut all three of its interest rates and planned to introduce other economic stimulus.

In Canadian domestic data, the New Housing Price Index (NHPI) rose 0.1 per cent in January, following an identical increase in December. The advance was led by higher new home prices in Vancouver and the combined region of Toronto and Oshawa, Statistics Canada said in a report on Thursday.

The TSX was stronger in early activity, up 99.32 points at 8:50 a.m. CST to sit at 13,492.22.