By MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Sept. 21 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar was softer Thursday morning, backing away from the six-week highs relative to its United States counterpart hit on Wednesday.
At 8:37 a.m. CDT Thursday morning the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7410 or US$1=C$1.3495, which compares with Wednesday’s close of US$0.7450 or US$1=C$1.3423.
Canada’s unemployment rate edged up by 0.1 percentage point in July, hitting 5.5 per cent, according to a report from Statistics Canada, as the number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits increased by 6.0 per cent to 438,000.
In a separate report, Statistics Canada reported that the country’s New Housing Price Index was up by 0.1 per cent in August compared to the previous month, with prices unchanged in 16 of the 27 census metropolitan areas.
Crude oil was stronger, with West Texas Intermediate up by 0.99 per cent at US$90.55 per barrel.
The TSX was weaker, down by 170.14 points at 8:37 CDT, trading at 20,044.55 points.
