Glacier FarmMedia — The Canadian dollar failed to hold onto earlier gains relative to its United States counterpart on Monday, holding steady to start the week.
The Canadian dollar settled at US$0.7154 or US$1=C$1.3979, which was unchanged with Friday’s close.
Canada’s manufacturing sector contracted in November, with the S&P Global Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) falling to 48.4 from 49.6 the previous month. While that was still the second-highest reading of the past 10 months, any reading below 50 indicates contraction in the sector.
Ukrainian drone attacks over the weekend led to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium halting exports, while increasing tensions between the United States and Venezuela also underpinned energy markets. West Texas Intermediate crude oil up by 1.55 per cent at US$59.46 per barrel.
The TSX Composite Index lost 281.00 points at 31,101.78 points.
