By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, June 7 – The Canadian dollar firmer against its US counterpart at midday Friday, boosted by better than expected Canadian employment data, analysts said.
According to Statistics Canada, 95,000 new jobs were added to the Canadian economy in May, most of which were full time positions. The unemployment rate decrease 0.1 percentage points to 7.1%. Traders expected that 15,000 new jobs were added in May.
At 11:47 CDT Friday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.9789, or US$1=C$1.0216, which compares with Thursday’s North American close of US$0.9747, or US$=C$1.0260.
The Canadian dollar also moved higher in reaction to better than anticipated US employment data. According to the US government, 175,000 jobs were created in May, beating expectations of 165,000 new jobs.
Strength seen in crude oil also helped to underpin the value of the Canadian currency. However, sharp losses seen in gold limited its upside potential.
The Toronto Stock Exchange was down 21.20 points, or 0.17%, at 11:47 CDT Friday, to sit at 12,388.13.
