Canadian Forex Midday: C$ significantly lower

By Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, August 29 – The Canadian dollar was significantly lower
against its US counterpart at midday Thursday, undermined by positive
US economic data that could lead to the US Federal Reserve slowing its
monetary stimulus sooner than later, market watchers said.
The US Department of Commerce reported that the US gross domestic
product grew 2.5% in the second quarter, which was higher than the
initial estimate of 1.7%
Further weakness came from news that US jobless claims were down
6,000 to 331,000 during the week ended August 24.
A Statistics Canada release also created downward pressure, as the
country’s account deficit increased by C$1.1 billion to C$14.6 billion
in the second quarter.
At 11:34 CDT Thursday, the Canadian dollar was trading at
US$0.9500 or US$1.0526, which compares with Wednesday’s North American
close of US$0.9537, or US$=$1.0485.
Losses seen in commodities, including crude oil, gold and copper,
added to the loonie’s bearish tone.
Traders are looking ahead to Friday’s release of Canada’s GDP for
June. Economists are expecting just a 0.4% increase.
At 11:34 CDT Thursday, the Toronto Stock Exchange was down 126.60
points to sit at 12,733.82.