By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, June 19 The Canadian dollar weakened against its US counterpart Friday morning after gaining some ground on Thursday. A Statistics Canada report showed weaker retail sales in April and crude oil prices fell.
At 8:45 a.m. CDT the Canadian dollar was at US$0.8162 or C$1.2252 which compares with Thursday’s North American close of US$0.8179, or C$1.2227.
According to Statistics Canada, retail sales fell 0.1 per cent in April as consumers spent less at food and electronic stores, which is lower than economist predications.
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In other domestic data, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures changes in the price level of consumer goods and services, rose 0.9 per cent in the 12 months to May, after increasing 0.8 per cent in April, Statistics Canada said Friday.
The slight inflation still fell below the Bank of Canada’s one to three per cent increase targets.
According to Stats Can, prices went up in seven of the eight major sectors on a year-over-year basis in May. The rise in the CPI was led by higher prices for food.
An increase in the recreation, education and reading index also contributed to higher consumer prices, Stats Can said.
The TSX was stronger in early activity, up 37.66 points at 8:45 a.m. CDT to sit at 14,770.64.
