Canadian dollar and business outlook

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, May 19 The Canadian dollar weakened to a one-month-low against its US counterpart on Thursday, as crude oil prices slipped.

Anticipation that the US Federal Reserve could increase interest rates this summer further weighed on the loonie.

At 8:50 a.m. CDT, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7626 or C$1.3113 which compares with Wednesday’s North American close of US$0.7679, or C$1.3023.

New York Mercantile crude oil futures had lost US$0.83 to sit
at US$47.95 a barrel, as of 8:50 CDT.

In Canadian domestic data, wholesale sales declined for a second consecutive month in March, down one per cent to C$54.6 billion. In volume terms, wholesale sales declined 0.4 per cent, Statistics Canada said in a report on Thursday.

The TSX was weaker in early activity, down 53.90 points at 8:50
a.m. CDT to sit at 13,772.11.