By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, October 31 – The Canadian dollar was lower against its US counterpart Friday morning, as weak economic data from August weighed on the market.
New numbers show that Canada’s GDP rose by an annualized rate of 2.2 percent. That fell short of analysts’ projections of 2.3 percent.
Markets were also reacting to news that the Bank of Japan expanded a key stimulus program. The move is aimed at curbing deflation, according to the country’s leader.
On the commodity markets, December bullion dropped $29.40 to US$1,169.20 an ounce while copper prices jumped two cents to US$3.08 a pound. The December crude oil contract fell 93 cents to US$80.19.
At 8:50 CDT Friday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.8866 or US$=C$1.1330 which compares with Thursday’s North American close of US $0.8932, or US$=C$1.1196.
The TSX was up 78.55 points Friday morning at 8:50 CDT, to sit at 14,537.24.
