By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, Dec. 11 – The Canadian dollar was weaker Thursday morning, hitting fresh 5-year lows as continued weakness in crude oil weighed on the energy-linked currency.
At 9:23 CST Thursday morning the Canadian dollar was at US$0.8673 or C$1.1530 which compares with Wednesday’s North American close of US$0.8711, or C$1.1480.
Crude oil was trading at around US$60 per barrel Thursday morning, and is expected to continue to decline, according to market analysts. Canada is a major oil producer and the weakness in crude oil could weigh on the country’s economy.
In domestic data, Canadian industries operated at 83.4% of their capacity in the third quarter, which was up from 82.8% the previous quarter, according to a report from Statistics Canada.
The TSX was stronger in early activity, up 67.05 points at 9:23 CST to sit at 13,920.00.
