By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, March 6 – The Canadian dollar was down sharply relative to the US dollar on Friday, reacting to strong US employment data, analysts said.
The US Labour Department said 295,000 new jobs were created in the US last month, beating expectations of 245,000 new jobs. The positive data fuelled speculation that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates soon.
At 11:32 CST Friday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.7923 or US$1=C$1.2621, which compares with Thursday’s North American close of US$0.7996 or US$1=C$1.2506.
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Weakness in commodity values, including gold and crude oil, also spilled over to weigh on the Canadian dollar.
Disappointing Canadian trade data added to the bearish tone. Statistics Canada said Canada’s merchandise trade deficit with the world rose to C$2.5 billion in January, from C$1.2 billion in December.
However, positive economic data out of Europe limited the downside. Reports show Germany’s industrial production was up by 0.6 per cent in January, beating expectations of a 0.5 per cent jump.
The Toronto Stock Exchange was down 126.34 points, or 0.84%, at 11:32 CST Friday, to sit at 14,976.77.
