Canadian Forex Midday: C$ Falls Further Below Parity

By Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, Feb. 11 – The Canadian dollar fell further below parity with its US counterpart at midday Monday, as Friday’s weak Canadian employment data continued to weigh on values, analysts said.

Canadian employment data came in softer than expected on Friday. According to Statistics Canada, the country lost 22,000 jobs in January, much lower than the 5,000 jobs increase traders expected.

At 11:59 CST Monday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.9936, or US$1=C$1.0064, which compares with Friday’s North American close of US$0.9973, or US$=C$1.0027.

Declining gold and copper prices also put downward pressure on the value of the Canadian dollar. However, strong crude oil values limited the loonie’s downside potential.

There was no significant Canadian economic data to report on Monday. Traders were looking ahead to Friday’s Canadian manufacturing data.

The Toronto Stock Exchange was down 26.21 points, or 0.20%, at 11:59 CST Monday, to sit at 12,775.02.