By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, January 23 The Canadian dollar was little changed compared to the US dollar at 8:40 CST Wednesday, as traders were waiting for fresh news before making any big decisions, analysts said.
Some traders were on the sidelines ahead of the Bank of Canada’s policy rate announcement and release of their Monetary Policy Report later Wednesday morning. Participants expect the Bank of Canada to keep its policy rate unchanged and weaken its economic growth outlook.
Traders were also looking ahead to later Wednesday, when lawmakers in the US are expected to vote on whether or not to raise the debt ceiling.
At 8:40 CST Wednesday, the Canadian dollar was at US$1.0078 or US$=C$0.9923, which compares with Tuesday’s North American close of US$1.0074 or US$=C$0.9927.
Weak commodity prices, including crude oil and metals, put some downward pressure on the value of the Canadian dollar.
There was no significant Canadian economic data to report on Wednesday morning.
The TSX was up 30.38 points, or 0.24%, at 8:40 CST Wednesday morning to sit at 12,824.63.
