Canadian forex midday: C$ drops below 90 cents US

By Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, February 26 – The Canadian dollar was weaker compared to the US dollar at midday Wednesday, dropping below the 90 cents US mark.

At 11:42 CDT Wednesday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.8994, or US$1=C$1.1119, which compares with Tuesday’s North American close of US$0.9020, or US$=C$1.1086.

Positive US home buying data was behind the drop in the value of the Canadian dollar, analysts said. Surprisingly, sales of new US homes jumped 9.6 per cent, to 468,000 in January, the US Commerce Department said.

Losses seen in gold also spilled over to weigh on the Canadian currency, though firmer crude oil prices were supportive.

Positioning ahead of a slew of economic indicators later this week, including Canadian trade data and US Federal Reserve remarks on Thursday, as well as Canadian GDP data o Friday, was a feature of the activity.

The Toronto Stock Exchange was up 13.24 points, or 0.09%, at 11:42 CDT Wednesday, to sit at 14,202.22.