By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, December 6 – The Canadian dollar opened weaker against
its US counterpart on Friday, as stronger-than-expected US economic
data weighed on the loonie, industry watchers said.
According to the US Department of Labour, US nonfarm payrolls
increased by 203,000 in November, surpassing trade expectations of a
180,000 job increase. The unemployment rate also dropped from 7.3% to
7.0%, beating economists’ forecasts of 7.2%.
However, losses were limited by gains seen in commodities and
strong Canadian economic data, brokers said.
Statistics Canada reported that 22,000 jobs were created in
November and the jobless rate remained at 6.9%. Traders were expecting
only 12,000 jobs to be created during the month.
At 8:45 CST Friday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.9387 or
US$=C$1.0653 which compares with Thursday’s North American close of
US$0.9398, or US$=C$1.0641.
The TSX was up 50.32 points Friday morning at 8:45 CST, to sit at
13,250.72.
