By MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, March 25 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar was slightly weaker Thursday morning, as losses in crude oil weighed on the currency.
At 8:58 a.m. CDT Thursday morning, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7944 or US$1=C$1.2588 which compares with Wednesday’s North American close of US$0.7961 or US$1=C$1.2562.
The number of Canadians receiving regular employment insurance benefits in January increased by 11.9 per cent in January, marking a 225.9 per cent increase on the year, according to Statistics Canada.
Crude oil was down on Thursday, as renewed pandemic restrictions in Europe caused investors to back away. The losses in crude oil came despite ongoing efforts to free a container ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal blocking movement through the key oil shipping passage.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down by 3.0 per cent in early activity to trade at US$59.34 per barrel.
The TSX was down by 135.98 points at 8:58 CDT, trading at 18,492.31 points.
