Canadian Forex Midday: C$ Weakens

By Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, March 19 – The Canadian dollar was trading at a weaker level against its US counterpart at midday Tuesday, as disappointing Canadian economic data weighed on its value, analysts said.

According to Statistics Canada, Canadian manufacturing sales fell 0.2% to C$48 billion in January, falling below expectations of a slight increase.

Canadian wholesale trade data was also weaker than expected, increasing by only 0.3% to C$49 billion in January, StatsCan reported.

At 11:48 CDT Tuesday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.9735, or US$1=C$1.0272, which compares with Monday’s North American close of US$0.9782, or US$=C$1.0223.

Weak commodity prices, including crude oil and copper, spilled over to weigh on the value of the Canadian currency as well.

Nervousness ahead of the vote on the Cyprus bailout plan in the euro zone had some traders shedding risk, including the Canadian dollar.

The Toronto Stock Exchange was up 0.07 points, or 0.00%, at 11:48 CDT Tuesday, to sit at 12,781.83.