By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, December 23 – The Canadian dollar lost ground against its US counterpart in early activity on Friday, declining with crude oil futures and weaker domestic data.
Crude oil futures moved lower in early activity, as investors were profit-taking ahead of the holidays.
The Canadian economy contracted in October, Statistics Canada said, which further pressured the loonie.
After increasing for four consecutive months, real gross domestic product was down 0.3 per cent in October. Widespread decreases in manufacturing output and lower oil and gas extraction were the major contributors to the decline, StatsCan said in a report on Friday.
At 9:30 CST Friday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7373 or US$=C$1.3526, which compares with Thursday’s North American close of US$0.7409 or US$1=C$1.3497.
The TSX was up 25.23 points at 9:30 CST Friday morning to sit at 15,360.46.
