By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, February 18 – The Canadian dollar was slightly
stronger against its US counterpart on Thursday as strength in crude
oil futures balanced strong US data.
At 8:40 a.m. CST the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7302 or C$1.3695
which compares with Wednesday’s North American close of US$0.7297,
or C$1.3705.
At 8:40 a.m., New York Mercantile crude oil futures had gained
US$0.89 to sit at US$33.87 a barrel.
Initial claims for US jobless benefits for the week ended
February 13 were lower than the week before at a seasonally adjusted
262,000, indicating a strong labour force.
In Canadian domestic data, in volume terms, wholesale sales
increased 1.8 per cent in December, Statistics Canada said in a report
on Thursday.
The TSX was stronger in early activity, up 23.09 points at 8:40
a.m. CST to sit at 12,890.25.
