Canadian Forex Midday: C$ Declines With GDP Data

By Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, May 29, – The Canadian dollar was weaker against its US counterpart at midday Friday, as disappointing first-quarter gross domestic product data weighed down the loonie.

The loonie was at US$0.8021 or US$1 = C$1.2467 at 11:45 CDT Friday morning. Canada’s gross domestic product fell by 0.6% on an annualized basis, according to reports. This was much lower than the 0.3% increase that was expected.

Sluggish household spending and declining crude oil prices were held us as reasons behind the contraction. Declines in mining and natural gas were also brought up as well.

Crude oil received a boost today as new numbers showed a bigger decline in inventories than initially expected.

On the commodity markets the July crude contract in New York rose US$1.64 to US$59.33 a barrel. The June gold contract increased US$0.60 to US$1,189.40 an ounce.

At 11:45 CDT Friday morning, the Toronto Stock Exchange was down 104.73 points to 15,002.25.