By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, March 13 – The Canadian dollar was trading at eased against its US counterpart at 12:00 CDT Wednesday, as support from last Friday’s positive employment data wore off, analysts said.
At 12:00 CDT Wednesday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.9731, or US$1=C$1.0276, which compares with Tuesday’s North American close of US$0.9746, or US$=C$1.0261.
The continued dovish tone from the Bank of Canada and recent weak economic data from the country put downward pressure on the loonie.
However, positive retails sales from the US improved risk appetite, which limited the Canadian dollar’s downside potential, traders said. US retail sales were up 1.1% in February, from a 0.1% increase in January, and beating expectations of a 0.5% jump.
There was no fresh significant Canadian economic data to report on Wednesday. Traders were looking ahead to Friday’s Canadian housing data.
The Toronto Stock Exchange was down 95.33 points, or 0.74%, at 12:00 CDT Wednesday, to sit at 12,783.25.
