Canadian dollar and business outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, April 5 The Canadian dollar weakened against its US counterpart on Tuesday, as crude oil prices fell and Canada’s trade deficit moved to a four-month high.

At 8:37 a.m. CDT, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7585 or C$1.3184 which compares with Monday’s North American close of US$0.7650, or C$1.3072.

As of 8:37 CDT, crude oil prices had lost US$0.32 per barrel to sit at US$35.38 per barrel.

In Canadian domestic data, exports fell 5.4 per cent to C$43.7 billion in February, after reaching a record high in January. Export prices decreased 3.2 per cent and volumes were down 2.2 per cent. Imports declined 2.6 per cent to $45.6 billion, as prices were down 1.4 per cent and volumes decreased 1.2 per cent, Statistics Canada said in a report on Tuesday.

Consequently, Canada’s merchandise trade deficit with the world widened from C$628 million in January to C$1.9 billion in February.

The TSX was weaker in early activity, down 70.50 points at 8:37 a.m. CDT to sit at 13,265.65.