By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, December 19 – The Canadian dollar was trading at a softer level compared to its US counterpart at midday Wednesday, as traders booked profits ahead of the holiday season, analysts said.
At 11:51 CST Wednesday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$1.0131, or US$1=C$0.9871, which compares with Tuesday’s North American close of US$1.0145, or US$=C$0.9857.
Traders also exited long positions, preparing for the worst case scenario if there’s no resolution to the impending fiscal cliff in the US.
Stronger commodity prices helped to slow the Canadian currency’s decline, as did better than expected domestic wholesale sales data.
Canadian wholesale sales were up 0.9% to C$49.2 billion in October, following a decline of 1.5% in September, Statistics Canada reported.
The Toronto Stock Exchange was up 71.99 points, or 0.58%, at 11:51 CST Wednesday, to sit at 12,406.33.
