By MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Nov. 3 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar was sharply weaker Thursday morning, dropping by nearly a full cent relative to its United States counterpart.
At 8:50 a.m. CDT Thursday morning the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7250 or US$1=C$1.3793, which compares with Wednesday’s close of US$0.7337 or US$1=C$1.3630.
Canada’s merchandise trade surplus widened to C$1.1 billion in September, from C$550 million the previous month, as exports rose at a faster rate than imports, according to a report from Statistics Canada.
Meanwhile, The United States trade deficit with the rest of the world increased by 11.6 per cent to US$73.3 billion, according to the country’s Commerce Department.
Crude oil was weaker in early activity, pressured by Wednesday’s interest rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve and mounting global recession fears. West Texas Intermediate was down by 2.2 per cent at US$88.06 per barrel.
The TSX was down by 59.52 points at 8:50 CDT, trading at 19,217.49 points.
