Canadian Dollar and Business Outlook: Loonie standing pat

By Glen Hallick

Glacier FarmMedia|MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar was virtually unchanged on Thursday morning with declines in the United States dollar and upticks in crude oil balancing each other off.

As of 8:37 am CDT, the loonie was at US$0.7357 or US$1=C$1.3596 compared to Wednesday’s close of US$0.7359 or US$1=C$1.3589. On the U.S. Dollar Index, the greenback dipped 0.077 of a point at 101.230.

Benchmark crude oil prices were higher on Thursday morning as Hurricane Francine forced the shut down of 39 per cent of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. However, the increases were tempered by the International Energy Agency reducing its 2024 global demand projection by 7.2 per cent at 900,000 barrels per day.

Brent crude oil rose 93 cents at US$71.54 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate gained US$1.03 at US$68.34.

Shortly after Thursday’s open the TSX/S&P Composite Index added 109.58 points at 23,320.75.

Gold advanced US$23.10 at US$2,565.50 per ounce.