By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, December 18 – The Canadian dollar was higher against its American counterpart at midday Thursday, as oil prices softened and the US Federal Reserve offered reassurances it wouldn’t hike interest rates in the immediate future.
The loonie was at US$0.8624 or US$1 = C$1.1595 at 11:45 CST Thursday morning.
Oil prices crept downward after two days of gains as world markets attempted to find some equilibrium in the face of questions over supply and demand.
The chairwoman of the US central bank told the public on Wednesday she didn’t anticipate a hike of short-term interest rates in the first quarter of 2015. Janet Yellen added the timing of an increase would depend on future economic data.
On the commodity markets, the February gold contract rose US$36.31 to $1,250.19 an ounce. The January crude oil contract faded US$0.95 to US$55.52 a barrel. The March copper contract slipped two cents to US$2.85 per pound.
At 11:45 CST Thursday morning, the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 89.14 points to 14,302.53.
