By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, January 23 – The Canadian dollar was sharply lower compared to its US counterpart at midday Wednesday, hovering near parity.
News that the Bank of Canada will probably keep their interest rate unchanged for longer than originally anticipated due to slow economic growth sparked the move to the downside, analysts said. The Bank of Canada lowered their outlook for Canadian economic growth to 1.9% for 2012, and 2.0% for 2013.
At 11:58 CST Wednesday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$1.0004, or US$1=C$0.9933, which compares with Tuesday’s North American close of US$1.0074, or US$=C$0.9927.
Softer commodity prices, including crude oil, gold and copper, also helped the Canadian dollar move to lower ground, traders said.
The market was looking ahead to later Wednesday, when US lawmakers will vote on whether or not to raise the debt ceiling in the US.
The Toronto Stock Exchange was down 18.35 points, or 0.14%, at 11:58 CST Wednesday, to sit at 12,806.28.
