Canadian Dollar And Business Outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, April 1 – The Canadian dollar dropped against its American counterpart Friday morning, tracking losses in crude oil. Crude prices weakened on news that Saudi Arabia does not intend to slash oil production unless fellow exporter Iran follows suit.

One of Canada’s largest energy heavyweights has pared its workforce. Cenovus Energy cut 440 jobs this week. The company suffered a C$480 million loss in the fourth quarter.

At 8:55 CDT, the loonie was down 0.0067 of a cent to US$0.7630 or US$1 = C$1.3106.

At 8:55 a.m., New York Mercantile crude oil futures (May contract) had declined US$1.44 to sit at US$36.90 a barrel. The June gold contract fell $17.10 to US$1,218.50 an ounce.

At 8:55 CDT Friday morning, the TSX was down 168.75 points to 13,325.61.