By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, June 2 – The Canadian dollar firmed against its US counterpart at midday Tuesday, as an upward spike in crude oil buoyed the loonie.
The loonie was at US$0.8075 or US$1 = C$1.2383 at 11:50 CDT Tuesday morning. Oil futures were lifted by the weaker US dollar and positive comments from Saudi Arabia’s oil minister. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is scheduled to meet on Friday.
Merchandise trade data for the month of April is set to released tomorrow. The Ivey Purchasing Managers Index for May will come out on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Greece’s creditors are close to signing a deal to present to the cash-strapped government. The economic turmoil within the country has snarled many markets around the globe.
On the commodity markets the July crude contract in New York rose US$0.79 to US$60.99 a barrel. The June gold contract increased US$4.20 to US$1,192.80 an ounce.
At 11:50 CDT Tuesday morning, the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 58.45 points to 15,132.54.
