Canadian Dollar and Business Outlook: Strength in greenback, crude oil keep loonie in check

By Glen Hallick

Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar held steady on Friday morning as increases in the United States dollar and crude oil cancelled out each other.

As of 8:38 am CST, the loonie was at US$0.6948 or US$1=C$1.4397 compared to Thursday’s close of US$0.6949 or US$1=C$1.4395.

On the U.S. Dollar Index, the greenback gained 0.351 of a point at 109.350.

Benchmark crude oil prices surged on Friday morning following reports saying the U.S. is prepared to levy more sanctions on Russia.

Brent crude oil advanced US$3.48 at US$80.40 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate jumped US$3.55 cents at US$77.47.

Statistics Canada reported on Friday that the country’s unemployment rate slipped to 6.7 per cent in December with 91,000 jobs added.

Shortly after Friday’s opening, the TSX/S&P Composite Index dropped 216.96 points at 24,856.40.

Gold jumped US$36.00 at US$2,726.80 per ounce.