By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, March 16 – The Canadian dollar was higher against its American counterpart at midday Monday, as investors positioned themselves in advance of a meeting by the US Federal Reserve.
The loonie was at US$0.7841 or US$1 = C$1.2753 at 11:45 CDT Monday morning.
The US central bank will meet Tuesday and Wednesday where the subject of when to hike the interest will be a hot topic. Recent positive news has raised speculation the feds could adjust the rate sometime this year.
Valeant raised its bid for Salix Pharmaceuticals to about US$11 billion.
Brent oil fell three percent amid weak crude oil prices. There is renewed speculation a nuclear deal could be reached with Iran which would result in more oil being released onto the market.
On the commodity markets the April crude contract in New York fell 1.70 to US$43.14 a barrel. The April gold contract fell US$1.30 to US$1,151.10 an ounce. The May copper contract was unchanged at US$2.67 a pound.
At 11:45 CDT Monday morning, the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 106.00 points to 14,837.49.
