Canadian Forex Midday: C$ Firms Slightly

By Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, December 11 – The Canadian dollar was trading at a slightly firmer level versus its US counterpart at midday Tuesday, as traders awaited an announcement following the US Federal Reserve’s meeting on Wednesday, analysts said.

Many trade participants are optimistic that the US Federal Reserve will announce more stimulus measures to help support the US economy.   Some industry officials believe the Federal Reserve will announce that they will begin buying US$40 million of long-term treasury securities each month.

At 11:50 CST Tuesday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$1.0139 US$1=C$0.9863, which compares with Monday’s North American close of US$1.0132, or US$=C$0.9870.

Positive economic news from Germany, and strong Canadian trade deficit data also helped to underpin the value of the loonie, brokers noted.

Statistics Canada reported Canadian merchandise imports were

down 1.2% in October, while exports rose 1.0%. As a result, Canada’s trade deficit with the world narrowed from C$1.0 billion in September to C$169 million in October, StatsCan said.

The Toronto Stock Exchange was up 70.83 points, or 0.58%, at 11:50 CST Tuesday, to sit at 12,301.30.