By Commodity News Service Canada.
Winnipeg, August 12 – The Canadian dollar was sharply higher against its US counterpart at midday Wednesday, after the Chinese yuan fell again.
The Canadian dollar was at US$0.7705 or US$1 = C$1.2978 at 11:50 CDT Wednesday morning. Marked-based countries around the world were under pressure Wednesday, as the Chinese government let its currency fall farther.
Investors fear the downward currency action could stifle recovery efforts for several nations while hamstringing shipments of commodities.
The Canadian dollar was also suffering from a drop in crude oil prices.
As a consequence of today’s volatility, gold jumped in price as several traders rushed to secure safe havens.
On the commodity markets the September crude contract in New York fell US$0.12 to US$43.75 a barrel. The August gold contract rose US$13.80 to US$1,121.60 an ounce.
At 11:50 CDT Wednesday morning, the Toronto Stock Exchange was down 180.41 points to 14,234.26.
