By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, April 4 The Canadian dollar was trading at a slightly firmer level compared to its US counterpart at 8:54 CDT Thursday, underpinned by expectations that Friday’s Canadian and US employment data will be positive, analysts said.
At 8:54 CDT Thursday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.9864 or US$=C$1.0138, which compares with Wednesday’s North American close of US$0.9857 or US$=C$1.0145.
News that Japanese officials are working towards slowing the country’s economic downturn, also underpinned the value of the Canadian dollar.
However, talk that the US Federal Reserve is considering slowing down, and eventually putting an end to its quantitative easing program, limited the loonie’s upside potential.
Weakness in commodities, including crude oil and gold, spilled over to further weigh on the value of the Canadian currency.
There was no significant Canadian economic data to report on Thursday.
The TSX was down 31.82 points, or 0.26%, at 8:54 CDT Thursday morning to sit at 12,390.30.
