By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, April 18 – The Canadian dollar was slightly stronger against its US counterpart at midday Thursday, seeing a bit of a recovery from Wednesday’s sharp decline, analysts said.
At 11:56 CDT Thursday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.9752, or US$1=C$1.0254, which compares with Wednesday’s North American close of US$0.9741, or US$=C$1.0266.
Strength seen in commodities, including crude oil and gold, spilled over to help lift the value of the Canadian currency, brokers noted.
However, Wednesday’s news that the Bank of Canada has lowered its economic growth forecast continued to weigh on the Canadian dollar. The Bank of Canada announced it has lowered its growth forecast for 2013 to 1.5 per cent, from the 2 per cent that was predicted in January. The interest rate remained unchanged at 1 per cent.
The Toronto Stock Exchange was up 63.50 points, or 0.53%, at 11:56 CDT Thursday, to sit at 12,010.79.
