By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, April 15 – The Canadian dollar was sharply stronger relative to its US counterpart at midday Wednesday, as the currency markets reacted to the latest interest rate announcement from the Bank of Canada.
At 11:30 CDT, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.8070 or US$1=C$1.2392 which compares with Tuesday’s close of US$0.8006 or US$=C$1.2490.
The Bank of Canada left its key overnight rate unchanged at 0.75%, which was in line with trade guesses. In the accompanying statement, the Bank also said that “risks to the outlook for inflation are now roughly balanced and risks to financial stability appear to be evolving as expected.” That balanced outlook was seen as a sign that further rate cuts were unlikely for the time being, which was supportive for the Canadian dollar.
Gains in crude oil helped underpin the energy-linked Canadian dollar as well.
At midday Wednesday the Toronto Stock Exchange was stronger, up 98.79 points at 11:30 CDT to sit at 15,488.07.
