By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, January 7 – The Canadian dollar was trading at a firmer level versus the US dollar at midday Monday, following strong outside equity markets, according to analysts.
At 11:51 CST Monday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$1.0141, or US$1=C$0.9861, which compares with Friday’s North American close of US$1.0131, or US$=C$0.9871.
Talk that the European Central Bank might be considering cutting interest rates to help the economy had more traders willing to take on risk, including the Canadian unit.
However, soft commodity prices limited the Canadian dollar’s upside potential.
Concerns that the US Federal Reserve will cut its bond-buying stimulus program in the second half of 2013 also limited the advances.
There was no significant Canadian economic data to report on Monday.
The Toronto Stock Exchange was down 78.85 points, or 0.63%, at 11:51 CST Monday, to sit at 12,461.96.
