Canadian Forex Midday: C$ strengthens

By Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, February 13 – The Canadian dollar was stronger against
its US counterpart at midday Thursday, underpinned by unfavourable US
economic data, industry watchers said.
According to the US Department of Commerce, US retail sales were
down 0.4% in January, which was weaker than the 0.1% decline economists
were expecting.
Spillover from the gains seen by gold added to the bullish tone,
brokers said.
However, weaker-than-expected Canadian housing data limited any
further gains. According to Statistics Canada, the average annual
increase in new housing prices in 2013 was 1.8%, which is the slowest
pace since 1999.
At 11:17 CST Thursday, the Canadian dollar was trading at
US$0.9104 or US$1.0984, which compares with Wednesday’s North American
close of US$0.9093, or US$=$1.0997.
At 11:17 CST Thursday, the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 53.33
points to sit at 13,953.82.