By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, June 29 – The Canadian dollar was softer relative to the US dollar at midday Monday, reacting to disappointing economic news out of Greece, analysts said.
Greece’s Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, surprised the world when he decided to close banks and markets until July 6 in order to buy some time to decide whether or not the country will accept foreign aid for their debt crisis.
At 11:47 CDT Monday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.8067 or US$1=C$1.2396, which compares with Friday’s North American close of US$0.8120 or US$1=C$1.2315.
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The Canadian dollar’s losses against its US counterpart were also linked to spillover selling from crude oil, one of Canada’s biggest exports.
Though, positive Canadian economic data limited the downside. Statistics Canada said the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) increased 0.5 per cent in May, while the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI) was up 4.4 per cent. The month prior, the IPPI declined 0.9 per cent, while the RMPI was up 4.0 per cent.
The Toronto Stock Exchange was down 299.59 points, or 2.02%, at 11:42 CDT Monday, to sit at 14,508.50. Traders were selling in reaction to the surprising closure of Greece’s banks.