By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, March 17 – The Canadian dollar was stronger at midday Monday, with easing tensions in Ukraine said to be providing some support for riskier assets.
At 11:50 CST, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.9050 or US$1=C$1.1050 which compares with Friday’s close of US$0.9013 or US$=C$1.1095.
The people of Crimea voted overwhelmingly in favour of joining Russia over the weekend, as had been widely anticipated. Targeted sanctions were announced by the EU and the US in response to the latest developments in the region.
In domestic data, Canadians added C$2.3 billion of foreign securities to their holdings in January, while foreign investors bought C$1.1 billion of Canadian securities during the month, reported Statistics Canada.
Losses in crude oil put some pressure on the energy linked Canadian currency.
At midday Monday the Toronto Stock Exchange was slightly stronger, up 4.70 points at 11:50 CST to sit at 14,232.26.
