By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, March 19 – The Canadian dollar was weaker Tuesday morning, as soft domestic economic data and the ongoing concerns over the European financial sector weighed on the currency.
At 9:29 CDT Monday morning the Canadian dollar was at US$0.9747 or C$1.0259 which compares with Monday’s North American close of US$0.9782, or C$1.0223.
The currency markets continue to follow the news out of Cyprus, where the government is set to vote on a measure that would see levies placed on every bank account in the country in a effort to help pay for a 10 billion euro bailout.
An unexpected 0.2% decline in Canadian manufacturing sales in January, as reported by Statistics Canada, put some further pressure on the Canadian dollar. Average market expectations had been for a slight rise in factory sales, after they had dropped sharply the previous month.
The TSX was stronger Tuesday morning, up 29.28 points at 9:29 CDT to sit at 12,811.04.
