By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, January 6 – The Canadian dollar advanced to a three-week-high against its US counterpart in early activity on Friday, underpinned by strong domestic data.
At 8:56 CST Friday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7570 or US$=C$1.3210, which compares with Thursday’s North American close of US$0.7552 or US$1=C$1.3242.
Stronger job growth in December and a trade surplus buoyed the loonie ahead of the weekend.
Employment rose by 54,000, or 0.3 per cent in December, the result of gains in full-time work, Statistics Canada said in a report on Friday.
In a separate report, StatCan said Canada’s merchandise trade balance with the world recorded its first trade surplus since September 2014.
The TSX was down 61.76 points at 8:56 CST Friday morning to sit at 15,524.82.
