By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, August 20 – The Canadian dollar was slightly lower against its US counterpart at midday Wednesday, as traders braced for the fallout from a meeting of the US Federal Reserve.
The central bank met last month but the minutes of that meeting will be released this afternoon. There is growing speculation the feds many adjust interest rates that have been near zero since the financial crisis.
Statistics Canada released figures that show wholesale sales rose 0.6 percent in June to C$53-billion. That’s the third consecutive increase.
On the commodity markets, the December gold contact fell $2.80 to US$1,293.90 an ounce. September copper rose seven cents to US$3.15 a pound. The September crude oil contract jumped 94 cents to US$95.42 a barrel.
At 11:35 CDT Wednesday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.9143 or US$1.0937, which compares with Monday’s North American close of US$0.9186, or US$=$1.0886.
At 11:35 CDT Wednesday, the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 37.03 points to sit at 15,514.20.
