By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, March 11 – The Canadian dollar was lower against its American counterpart at midday Wednesday, pushed downward by broad-based US-dollar strength, according to an analyst.
The loonie was at US$0.7838 or US$1 = C$1.2758 at 11:45 CDT Wednesday morning.
Investors are betting that the US Federal Reserve will move to hike interest rates sooner than later. A meeting of the central bank is set for next week.
Canadian employment data is due to be released on Friday which could dictate the next step up for the US dollar. Oil inventories are also being watched closely for possible influence over the loonie.
On the commodity markets the April crude contract in New York fell 0.56 to US$47.73 a barrel. The April gold contract fell US$8.30 to US$1,151.80 an ounce. The May copper contract was unchanged at US$2.62 a pound.
At 11:45 CDT Wednesday morning, the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 113.10 points to 14,754.86.
