By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, Oct 10 – The Canadian dollar was holding steady at 11:41 CDT Friday, as traders were squaring positions ahead of the long weekend. Canadian markets are closed for Thanksgiving on Monday.
At 11:41 CDT Friday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.8947, or US$1=C$1.1177, which compares with Thursday’s North American close of US$0.8950 or US$1=C$1.1173.
Spillover pressure came from the weakness in commodities, including crude oil and gold.
Renewed global economic concerns after disappointing data out of Europe and Asia this week were also bearish, analysts said.
On the other side, some support came from a positive Canadian jobs report released Friday morning. Statistics Canada said 74,100 jobs were created in September, beating expectations of 20,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to a nearly six-year low, now at 6.8 per cent.
The Toronto Stock Exchange was down 131.97 points, or 0.91%, at 11:41 CDT Friday, to sit at 14,328.63.
