By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, September 12 – The Canadian dollar opened lower against
its US counterpart on Thursday, undermined by favourable US economic
data, market watchers said.
According to the US Department of Labour, unemployment claims fell
by 31,000 during the week ended September 7 to a seasonally adjusted
292,000. The seasonally adjusted number is the lowest seen since April
2006, which could help push the US Federal Reserve to slow its monetary
stimulus during next week’s policy meeting, analysts said.
Losses seen in commodities, including gold and copper, added to
the loonie’s bearish tone.
However, losses were limited by Statistics Canada report showing
that new house prices were up 0.2% in July, beating economists’
expectations of a 0.1% gain.
At 8:40 CDT Thursday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.9676 or
US$=C$1.0334 which compares with Wednesday’s North American close of
US$0.9695, or US$=C$1.0315.
The TSX was down 60.53 points Thursday morning at 8:40 CDT, to sit
at 12,764.89.
