Canadian Forex Midday: C$ Firms

By Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, December 7 – The Canadian dollar was trading at a

firmer level versus its US counterpart at midday Friday,

supported by strong employment data from both the US and

Canada, traders said.

Statistics Canada reported 59,000 new jobs were added to the

Canadian economy in November, beating expectations of 10,000

new jobs. The unemployment also dropped 0.2 percentage points

to 7.2%.

In the US, 146,000 new jobs were created in November, the US

Department of Labour said, which beat expectations of 80,000

new jobs.

However declining commodity prices, including crude oil and

gold, helped to limit the Canadian dollar’s upside potential,

brokers said.

At 11:40 CST Friday, the Canadian dollar was trading at

US$1.0110 US$1=C$0.9891, which compares with Thursday’s North

American close of US$1.0090, or US$=C$0.9911.

The Toronto Stock Exchange was up 5.69 points, or 0.05%, at

11:40 CST Friday, to sit at 12,156.82.