By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, April 26 – The Canadian dollar was stronger against its US counterpart at midday Friday, underpinned by optimism that the European Central Bank will make moves to stimulate the economy next week, analysts said.
At 11:53 CDT Friday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.9833, or US$1=C$1.0170, which compares with Thursday’s North American close of US$0.9796, or US$=C$1.0208.
US gross domestic product data was released Friday, and was both positive and negative for the Canadian dollar, analysts said. On one hand, GDP increased 2.5% in the first quarter of 2013, which was much higher than the 0.4% jump in the last quarter of 2012. But, the 2.5% increase fell below expectations that GDP in the US would grow 3% in the first quarter of 2013.
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Risk sentiment has improved as of late, with positive global economic news this week, which helped to underpin the Canadian currency.
However, declines seen in commodities, including crude oil and gold, spilled over to weigh on the Canadian unit, limiting its upside potential.
The Toronto Stock Exchange was down 122.87 points, or 1.00%, at 11:53 CDT Friday, to sit at 12,206.64.
