By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, March 14 – The Canadian dollar was weaker against its US counterpart on Tuesday, pressured by the expectation for an American interest rate rise and losses in the crude oil market.
The US Federal Reserve started its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, which underpinned the greenback, as many investors expect an interest rate increase to follow.
Heavy production weighed on crude oil values, which pushed the commodity-linked Canadian dollar lower.
At 9:20 CDT Tuesday, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7413 or US$=C$1.3490, which compares with Monday’s North American close of US$0.7437 or US$1=C$1.3447.
In Canadian domestic data, Canadian refineries received 7.8 million cubic metres of crude oil in December, down two per cent from the same month in 2015, Statistics Canada said in a report on Tuesday.
The TSX was down 108.7 points at 9:20 CDT Tuesday morning to sit at 15,526.09.
