By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, December 17 – The Canadian dollar was slightly higher against its American counterpart at midday Wednesday, as traders considered whether or not to make moves ahead of today’s policy statement by the US Federal Reserve. At issue is whether or not the central bank will hike interest rates.
The loonie was at US$0.8611 or US$1 = C$1.1613 at 11:50 CST Wednesday morning.
Despite the modest surge, the loonie remains near a five and a half year low due to declining oil prices.
Investors are also keenly watching to see what happens with the Russian ruble. It has fallen dramatically as a result of plummeting oil prices as well as sanctions placed against it by Western countries following disputes with Ukraine.
On the commodity markets, the February gold contract dipped US$0.80 to $1,193.50 an ounce. The January crude oil contract rose US$1.91 to US$59.07 a barrel.
At 11:50 CST Wednesday morning, the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 255.64 points to 14,117.16.
