By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, July 9 The Canadian dollar was slightly firmer on Wednesday morning, due to stronger than expected figures for Canadian housing starts and ahead of a key Canadian employment report to be released on Friday.
At 9:04 CDT Wednesday morning, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.9373 or US$1 = C$1.0674, up 0.07 cents from Tuesday’s close.
Canadian housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 198,185 units in June, compared to 196,993 units in May, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Analysts had been expecting 190,000 units. Housing starts have been hovering around the 200,000 mark for three consecutive months now, indicating the Canadian housing market is not yet headed towards a slowdown.
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The average price of a home in Canada increased between 3.9 and 5.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2014 and prices are expected to increase steadily throughout the year, according to a real estate company.
Analysts expect the housing data to be overshadowed by Canadian employment reports that will be released by Statistics Canada this Friday. Economists expect the report will show that 24,000 jobs were created in June, compared to 25,800 jobs in May. They also expect the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at seven per cent.
On the commodity markets, August crude oil was 61 cents lower to US$102.79 a barrel. August gold bullion was up to US$1,325.30 an ounce and September copper was up a penny to US$3.25 a pound.
The TSX was rose 30.30 points to sit at 15,167.48 at 9:04 CDT Wednesday morning.
