By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, September 23 – The Canadian dollar was weaker against its US counterpart at midday Tuesday, due to slumping retail sales data.
Canadian retail sales were down 0.1 percent in July, following six straight monthly increases. Sales in the auto sector were strong but failed to turn things around.
Readings from Statistics Canada indicate there was a 0.3 percent fall in wholesale trade this month, despite strong exports in manufacturing sales for the month.
The December copper contract was unchanged at US$3.04 a pound. The November crude oil contract gained 30 cents to hit US$92.47 a barrel. December gold jumped US$10.00 to $1,216.30 an ounce.
At 11:40 CDT Tuesday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.9031 or US$1.1073, which compares with Monday’s North American close of US$0.9065, or US$=$1.1031.
At 11:40 CDT Tuesday, the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 10.99 points to sit at 15,139.99.
