By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, May 1 – The Canadian dollar was little changed against its US counterpart at midday Thursday, as North American earnings results underwhelmed investors on a muted day of trading.
Unemployment applications in the US rose 14% last week, the highest mark since February and a worrying sign just a day before the US releases its non-farm payrolls report for April.
Manulife Financial’s first-quarter net profit jumped to C$818 million. Core earnings ticked up 33 cents higher but that is still below the 39 cents expected for Canada’s largest life insurer, according to a report.
Commodity prices were lower while a survey of Chinese manufacturers showed activity in April grew slowly, which was bearish.
At 11:40 CDT Thursday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.9120 or US$1.1096, which compares with Tuesday’s North American close of US$0.9124, or US$=$1.0960.
At 11:40 CDT Thursday, the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 15.49 points to sit at 14,667.36.
