By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, December 10 – The Canadian dollar was trading at a stronger level versus its US counterpart at 9:05 CST Monday, as the Canadian government’s approval of two foreign takeover deals boosted its value, analysts said.
The Canadian government approved China’s Cnooc Ltd’s acquisition of Canadian oil-sands operator Nexen Inc. and Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s takeover of Canada’s Progress Energy Resources Corp.
At 9:05 CST Monday, the Canadian dollar was at US$1.0122 or US$=C$0.9888, which compares with Friday’s North American close of US$1.0091 or US$=C$0.9910.
Friday’s better than expected domestic jobs data also continued to support the Canadian dollar. Statistics Canada reported 59,000 new jobs were added to the Canadian economy in November, beating expectations of 10,000 new jobs.
Strong crude oil, gold and copper prices also helped to lift the Canadian dollar, market watchers noted.
The TSX was up 63.76 points, or 0.52%, at 9:05 CST Monday morning to sit at 12,223.35.
