By Glen Hallick
Glacier FarmMedia – The Canadian dollar dipped below 73 U.S. cents on Thursday morning, as a higher United States dollar outweighed upticks in crude oil.
As of 8:37 am CST, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7293 or US$1=C$1.3713, compared to Wednesday’s close of US$0.7311 or US$1=C$1.3678.
On the U.S. Dollar Index, the greenback rose 0.364 of a point at 97.990.
Benchmark crude oil prices were higher on Thursday morning, due to ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Iran spurred the gains.
West Texas Intermediate was up US$1.05 at US$66.24 per barrel and Brent crude added US$1.10 at US$71.45.
Canada’s international goods trade balance shrunk to a deficit of C$1.3 billion in December, half that in November, Statistics Canada reported on Thursday. International trade in services deficit expanded to C$700 million in December versus C$100 million in November.
In morning activity on Thursday, the TSX/S&P Composite Index pulled back 134.10 points at 33,255.63. Gold was down US$11.80 at US$4,997.70 per ounce.
