By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, July 9 – The Canadian dollar ended higher against its US counterpart, as rebounding oil prices and rumours of lower interest rates buoyed the loonie.
At 4:00 CDT Thursday, the loonie was at US$0.7875 or US$1 = C$1.2698.
Crude oil values surged as talks between Iran and the US over a nuclear deal got bogged down in technicalities. There is rampant speculation oil exports by Iran could be significantly delayed as a result.
Ideas of Canada’s employment data also supported the loonie. Analysts expect tomorrow’s report could show a decline of 10,000 jobs.
Earlier in the day, a report showed that Canadian housing starts had increased at an annual rate of 3%, which was below analysts’ expectations.
Canadian bonds finished softer on Thursday, as investors took profits following several sessions of fixed-income gains. Canada’s two-year bond yield was at 0.462 per cent, in comparison with 0.433 per cent on Thursday. The 10-year bond yielded 1.596 per cent from 1.516 per cent.
