By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, November 26 – The Canadian dollar was higher against its American counterpart at midday Wednesday, buoyed by positive economic data.
The loonie was at US$0.8902 or US$1 = C$1.1233 at 11:35 CST Wednesday morning.
Durable goods orders in the US rose by 0.4 percent. That is well above the 0.6 percent drop that was forecast by analysts.
Consumer spending in the US rose by 0.4 percent in October. New home sales also crept up 0.7 percent. That is the fastest pace since May. However, studies also found tight credit and sluggish pay-hikes pushed the US pending home sales index slightly lower.
The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index had advanced. It was revised downward to 88.8 from 89.4, which was considered the best reading since 2007.
On the commodity markets, the December gold contract dipped US$0.10 to $1,197.00 an ounce while March copper dropped three cents to US$2.95 a pound. The January crude oil contract fell US$0.15 cents to US$73.94 a barrel.
At 11:35 CST Wednesday morning, the Toronto Stock Exchange was down 33.21 points to 15,040.44.
