By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, Feb. 22 – The Canadian dollar was trading at lower level compared to its US counterpart at midday Friday, undermined by weak Canadian retail sales data.
According to Statistics Canada, retail sales fell 2.1% to C$38.6 billion in December, below expectations of a 0.3% decrease.
At 12:17 CST Friday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.9780, or US$1=C$1.0225, which compares with Thursday’s North American close of US$0.9816, or US$=C$1.0187.
Tepid inflation in Canada during the month of January was also a bearish influence on the Canadian dollar. StatsCan said the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.5% in the 12 months to January, following a 0.8% in December.
However, strong crude oil values helped to slow the declines, traders said.
The Toronto Stock Exchange was up 59.51 points, or 0.47%, at 12:17 CST Friday, to sit at 12,699.48.
