Canadian Dollar and Business Outlook: Loonie swings higher

By Glen Hallick

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar was claiming lost ground on Thursday morning as its United States counterpart stepped back.

As of 8:53 am CDT, the loonie was at US$0.7257 or US$1=C$1.3778 compared to Wednesday’s close of US$0.7235 or US$1=C$1.3821. On the United States Dollar Index, the greenback was down 0.182 of a point at 97.945.

Benchmark crude oil prices eased lower on Thursday morning, just as U.S. demand wanes with the end of summer close at hand, as well as the restart of Russia’s Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia. However, U.S. crude stockpiles were still down by 2.4 million barrels compared to the analysts’ prediction of 1.9 million.

West Texas Intermediate lost 27 cents at US$63.88 per barrel and Brent crude oil was also down 27 cents at US$67.78 per barrel.

The TSX/S&P Composite Index pulled back 55.65 points at 28,377.35.

Gold added US$13.80 at US$3,462.40 per ounce.