By MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, May 18 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar was holding firm Wednesday morning, finding support from gains in crude oil.
At 8:50 a.m. CDT Wednesday morning the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7793 or US$1=C$1.2832, which compares with Tuesday’s close of US$0.7792 or US$1=C$1.2834.
Canada’s consumer price index was up by 6.8 per cent on an annual basis in April, up by 0.1 point from the previous month, according to a report from Statistics Canada. The CPI was up by 0.6 per cent on a monthly basis, from 1.4 per cent in March.
The rising inflation should keep the Bank of Canada on pace to keep hiking interest rates.
Crude oil was posting small gains. West Texas Intermediate was up by 0.8 per cent at US$113.33 per barrel.
The TSX was weaker, down 162.88 points at 8:50 CDT, trading at 20,328.13 points.
