By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, January 17 – The Canadian dollar firmed against its US counterpart at midday Thursday, underpinned by positive economic data from the US, analysts said.
Home building in the US increased in December compared to November and the amount of people filing for unemployment benefits fell to its lowest level in 5 years last week.
At 11:54 CST Thursday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$1.0156, or US$1=C$0.9846, which compares with Wednesday’s North American close of US$1.0141, or US$=C$0.9861.
Advances seen in commodities, including crude oil, gold and copper, also spilled over to support the value of the Canadian currency.
However, weak Canadian economic data limited the Canadian dollar’s move to the upside. Foreign investment in Canadian securities fell to C$5.6 billion in November, Statistics Canada said.
The Toronto Stock Exchange was up 60.35 points, or 0.48%, at 11:54 CST Thursday, to sit at 12,669.17.
