By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, April 23 The Canadian dollar was slightly stronger compared to its US counterpart Tuesday morning, underpinned by better than expected Canadian retail sales data.
According to Statistics Canada, retail sales were up 0.8%, to C$39.5 billion in February, beating expectations of a 0.3% increase.
At 8:51 CDT Tuesday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.9753 or US$=C$1.0253, which compares with Monday’s North American close of US$0.9746 or US$=C$1.0261.
However, disappointing economic data from Europe and China tempered risk sentiment, which limited the Canadian dollar’s upside potential.
Weak commodity prices, including crude oil and gold, also put some downward pressure on the value of the Canadian currency.
The TSX was down 20.79 points, or 0.17%, at 8:51 CDT Tuesday morning to sit at 12,069.89.
