By Glen Hallick
Glacier FarmMedia – The Canadian dollar continued to pull back on Thursday morning, losing ground to upticks in the United States dollar, while increases in crude oil tempered the decline.
As of 8:36 am CST, the loonie was at US$0.7216 or US$1=C$1.3857, compared to Wednesday’s close of US$0.7234 or US$1=C$1.3823 On the U.S. Dollar Index, the greenback bumped up 0.233 of a point at 98.655.
Benchmark crude oil prices were higher on Thursday morning, as the Trump administration considers further economic sanctions against Russia and countries buying Russian oil.
West Texas Intermediate added US$1.07 at US$57.06 per barrel and Brent crude gained US$1.13 at US$61.09.
Statistics Canada reported the country had a trade deficit of C$583 million in October. While that was well below analysts’ projection of a C$1.36 billion trade deficit, Canada’s international trade retreated from a C$243 million trade surplus in September.
In morning activity, the TSX/S&P Composite Index nudged up 24.16 points at 32,159.65.
Gold lost US$24.40 at US$4,438.10 per ounce.
