By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, March 1 The Canadian dollar was nearly unchanged at 9:03 CST Friday, as Canadian gross domestic product data was in line with expectations, analysts said.
According to Statistics Canada, GDP fell 0.2% in December on a monthly basis and edged up 0.6% on an annualized basis in the fourth quarter, falling in line with pre-report expectations.
At 9:03 CST Friday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.9697 or US$=C$1.0312, which compares with Thursday’s North American close of US$0.9696 or US$=C$1.0314.
Weak Chinese manufacturing data and soft commodity prices put some downward pressure on the value of the Canadian dollar, traders said.
The TSX was down 72.88 points, or 0.57%, at 9:03 CST Friday morning to sit at 12,748.95.
