By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, March 31 – The Canadian dollar was lower against its American counterpart at midday Tuesday, as talks between Iran and western nations about the Middle Eastern nation’s nuclear program intensified.
The loonie was at US$0.7883 or US$1 = C$1.2685 at 11:35 CDT Tuesday morning. Brent crude oil neared US$55 a barrel as talks swirled around a deal that would see Iran placing strict limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
Canada’s service industries output fell 0.3 percent in January which is the first drop since February of 2014.
A new poll says 57 percent of Canadians aren’t banking on mortgage rates falling any further than they have and would like to choose a fixed-rate mortgage if possible.
On the commodity markets the April crude contract in New York fell 0.30 to US$48.38 a barrel. The April gold contract rose US$2.20 to US$1,187.00 an ounce.
At 11:35 Tuesday morning, the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 12.96 points to 14,921.35.
