By Commodity News Service Canada
July 12 (CNS Canada) — The Canadian dollar held relatively steady early Thursday morning, despite international trade threats, a Bank of Canada prime lending rate increase and lower oil prices. The Canada-U.S. exchange was at C$1.3161 or 0.7589 per US$1. It closed yesterday at C$1.3151, or 0.7604 per US$1.
Chinese officials are urging American companies operating in China to lobby Washington to protect their interests saying foreign firms in China would suffer in a trade war. Beijing has promised to retaliate if the United States goes ahead with its threat and applies tariffs on another US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods, following an earlier round of tariffs and retaliation last week.
Read Also
Canadian Dollar and Business Outlook: Loonie, crude oil retreat
Glacier FarmMedia – The Canadian dollar eased off on Tuesday morning due to declines in crude oil. The loonie was at…
Prices for Brent light, sweet crude oil have regained some of yesterday’s heavy losses. Brent prices rose 1.7 per cent this morning after yesterday’s steep decline on news that Libya would resume production, adding about 700,000 barrels a day to supply. The United States also eased its hard line on Iran trade, further softening prices. Brent crude fell more than six percent yesterday. However the long-term outlook continues to cast doubt on global supply, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported increased demand. Brent Crude was at US$70.84 early this morning.
West Texas Intermediate crude was exhibiting resilience in early trading, up 0.23 per cent, or 16 cents to US$70.22.
Prices for new homes in Canada were unchanged for May, the third straight month that has happened. Toronto and Vancouver markets were both flat as tighter mortgage rules and higher interest rates took hold. Across the country, prices declined or were unchanged in 15 0f 27 cities surveyed, said Statistics Canada.
The S&P/TSX index gained 39.57 points this morning, or 0.24 per cent to 16,458.67 at 8:49 CDT.
