By MarketsFarm

WINNIPEG, Jan. 21 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar higher on Thursday morning as the United States dollar lost ground.

As of 8:42 CST, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7921 or C$1.2625, compared to Wednesday’s close of US$0.7901 or C$1.2656.

On the U.S. Dollar Index, the greenback was down 0.279 at 90.190 points.

Benchmark crude oil prices were lower Thursday morning after a report from the American Petroleum Institute showed a surprise increase in U.S. crude inventories. Such rose by 2.6 million barrels for the week ended Jan. 15, rather than falling 1.2 million barrels as analysts expected.

Brent crude oil was down 15 cents at US$55.93 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) lost 14 cents at US$53.17/barrel. Meanwhile, Western Canadian Select (WCS) was up 17 cents at US$39.13/barrel.

At the opening the TSX/S&P Composite Index was down 18.53 points at 17,996.38.

Gold dipped US$1.40 at US$1,865.10 per ounce.