WINNIPEG – The Canadian dollar continued to fall on Wednesday morning.
The loonie was at US$0.7263 or US$1=C$1.3768, down from US$0.7290 or US$1=C$1.3717 at Tuesday’s close. The Bank of Canada (BoC) is expected to announce later today that it will leave its key interest rate at 4.5 per cent. Statistics Canada reported today that the country had a C$1.9 billion trade surplus in January.
Meanwhile, the United States Dollar Index was unchanged at 105.62.
Crude oil continued to drop on Wednesday after U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell indicated that key interest rate hikes may still be needed. Brent crude oil dipped US$0.76 to US$82.53 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined US$1.02 at US$76.56/barrel. Western Canadian Select (WCS) dropped US$0.84 to US$61.05/barrel.
The TSX/S&P Composite Index added 6.56 points to 20,282.10.
Gold lost US$2.20 per ounce to US$1,817.80.
