By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, December 1 – The Canadian dollar was higher against its American counterpart at midday Monday, as new data pointed towards a slump in China’s manufacturing activity.
The loonie was at US$0.8823 or US$1 = C$1.1334 at 11:45 CST Monday morning.
A report by HSBC Corp. showed Chinese manufacturing activity had declined in November, casting a bearish tone over the world’s economic outlook. The purchasing managers index fell to 50.0 from the old mark of 50.4. Any numbers below 50.0 indicate a contraction.
In contract, the RBC index remained at 55.3 last month, which pointed towards a slight expansion of the manufacturing sector.
On the commodity markets, the February gold contract rose US$27.30 to $1,202.80 an ounce while March copper rose 3.7 cents to US$2.88 a pound. The January crude oil contract slumped US$2.21 to US$68.36 a barrel.
At 11:45 CST Monday morning, the Toronto Stock Exchange was down 161.79 points to 14,586.24.
