Canadian Forex Midday: C$ Falters With Losses In Oil, Gold

By Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, April 8 – The Canadian dollar was slightly lower against its American counterpart at midday Wednesday, weighed down by losses in crude oil and gold.

The loonie was at US$0.7990 or US$1 = C$1.2516 at 11:45 CDT Wednesday morning.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper slammed the door on any chances the government will open the vault for a stimulus program to aid the economy.

“Embarking on a major stimulus program when the economy’s growing, and driving us back into deficit, makes absolutely no long-term economic sense whatsoever,” he said.

The US dollar strengthened after falling weaker on a string of economic data released last week that pointed to a softer quarter.

On the commodity markets the April crude contract in New York fell US$2.56 to US$51.42 a barrel. The April gold contract dropped US$7.20 to US$1,203.40 an ounce.

At 11:45 CDT Wednesday morning, the Toronto Stock Exchange was down 4.35 points to 15,184.49.