By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, May 20 – The Canadian dollar was down against its US counterpart at midday Tuesday, as a decline in Canadian March wholesale sales led traders towards the safety of the US dollar.
Canadian wholesale sales in March fell 0.4% to C$50.45 billion. That is far below earlier expectations of a 0.4% increase, according to a report.
The quarterly earnings outlook for Canada has pretty much wound up now and traders are waiting to see results from Canada’s big banks this week and next. As a result, the Canadian dollar is expected to stay in a tight range until new domestic data is available, according to analysts.
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Commodities were mixed with the base metals sector rising 0.4% and June bullion edging up 40 cents to US$1,294.20 an ounce, which was supportive. The June crude oil contract declined 22 cents to US$102.39 a barrel which was bearish.
At 11:50 CDT Tuesday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.9170 or US$1.0905, which compares with Friday’s North American close of US$0.9211, or US$=$1.0857. Canadian markets closed Monday for Victoria Day.
At 11:50 CDT Tuesday, the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 12.65 points to sit at 14,527.71.
