By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, May 19 – The Canadian dollar was lower against its American counterpart Tuesday morning, as losses in the oil patch and gold sector weighed down the loonie.
At 8:58 CDT Tuesday morning, the loonie was down 0.0048 of a cent to US$0.8178 or US$1 = C$1.2227. Crude oil inventories in the US remain near 80-year highs, according to a report.
Small and medium-sized businesses in Canada increased their borrowing in the first quarter, according to data from PayNet.
Greece says progress is being made in its quest to secure a bailout package from the European Union. Global stock markets were supported through this news, traders said.
On the commodity markets the June crude contract in New York fell US$1.24 to US$59.00 a barrel. The June gold contract dipped $14.10 to US$1,214.60 an ounce.
At 8:58 CDT Tuesday morning, the TSX was down 7.06 points to 15,101.40.
