By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, February 14 The Canadian dollar was nearly unchanged versus its US counterpart at 8:52 CST Thursday, amid strong US employment data and weak euro zone economic data.
According to the US government, jobless claims in the country dropped by 27,000 to 341,000 claims during the week ended February 9, beating expectations of 360,000 claims.
Eurostat reported on Thursday that the euro zone’s economy contracted by 0.6% in the fourth quarter of 2012, falling below expectations of a 0.4% decline.
At 8:52 CST Thursday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.9983 or US$=C$1.0017, which compares with Wednesday’s North American close of US$0.9982 or US$=C$1.0018.
There was no significant Canadian economic data to report on Thursday. Traders were looking ahead to Friday’s Canadian manufacturing data.
The TSX was down 24.74 points, or 0.19%, at 8:52 CST Thursday morning to sit at 12,750.54.
