By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, Feb. 4 – The Canadian dollar was trading at a softer level versus its US counterpart at midday Monday.
Traders were avoiding riskier assets, including the Canadian dollar, due to renewed concerns about the economic situation in Europe, analysts said.
At 11:49 CST Monday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$1.0019, or US$1=C$0.9981, which compares with Friday’s North American close of US$1.0027, or US$=C$0.9973.
Weak commodity prices, including crude oil, gold and copper, also helped the Canadian dollar move to lower ground.
Worse than expected factory data from the US was also an undermining influence for the Canadian currency. Factory orders were up 1.8 per cent in November, which compares to expectations of a 2.5 per cent increase.
The Toronto Stock Exchange was down 50.25 points, or 0.39%, at 11:49 CST Monday, to sit at 12,718.58.
