By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, June 17 – The Canadian dollar was slightly lower against its US counterpart at midday Wednesday, as traders positioned themselves ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy statement at 1:00 CT.
The loonie was at US$0.8123 or US$1 = C$1.2310 at 11:50 CDT Wednesday morning. Investors are keenly interested to hear when the bank believes a hike to the interest rate makes the most sense.
Closer to home, wholesale trade rose in Canada for the second straight month. Sales of industrial machinery and a jump in the auto sector were credited with the surge.
A recent rally in crude oil could trigger selling by Canadian energy companies, according to a report.
On the commodity markets the July crude contract in New York declined US$0.92 to US$59.05 a barrel. The August gold contract decreased US$5.10 to US$1,175.40 an ounce.
At 11:50 CDT Wednesday morning, the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 3.69 points to 14,756.55.
