By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, April 10 The Canadian dollar was slightly firmer compared to its US counterpart at 8:54 CDT Wednesday, reacting to better than expected Chinese trade data, analysts said.
At 8:54 CDT Wednesday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.9848 or US$=C$1.0154, which compares with Tuesday’s North American close of US$0.9840 or US$=C$1.0163.
According to customs data, China’s trade deficit narrowed to US$800 million in March, while imports were up 14.1 per cent during the month.
Expectations that Japan will start to be more interested in purchasing cross-border assets following a stimulus announcement last week further underpinned the Canadian currency.
However, weakness in commodities, including crude oil, gold and copper, spilled over to weigh on the loonie, limiting its upside potential.
There was no significant Canadian economic data to report Wednesday morning.
The TSX was up 30.84 points, or 0.25%, at 8:54 CDT Wednesday morning to sit at 12,514.89.
