Canadian Dollar And Business Outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, April 21 – The Canadian dollar dropped against its American counterpart Thursday morning, tracking losses in crude oil and gold issues.

The Bank of Canada said the recent slump in oil had created a financial maelstrom that could take the country three years to rebound from.

Canadian Pacific Railway has announced plans to buy back just under 7 million common shares. The company, which recently saw hopes of acquiring fellow rival Norfolk Southern Corp. railway dashed, is raising its dividend payout by 43%.

At 9:15 CDT, the loonie was down 0.0018 of a cent to US$0.7884 or US$1 = C$1.2684.

At 9:15 a.m., New York Mercantile crude oil futures (June contract) had declined US$0.50 to sit at US$43.68 a barrel. The June gold contract fell $1.20 to US$1,253.50 an ounce.

At 9:15 CDT Thursday morning, the TSX was down 30.07 points to 13,881.22.