WINNIPEG, Feb. 5 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar rose slightly on Friday morning despite the release of higher unemployment numbers on both sides of the border.
As of 8:43 a.m. CST, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7821 or US$1=C$1.2785, compared to Thursday’s close of US$0.7795 or US$1=C$1.2828. Earlier today, Statistics Canada reported the number of unemployed Canadians increased by 213,000 in January, raising the unemployment rate to 9.4 per cent.
Benchmark crude oil prices were moving closer to the US$60 mark on Friday morning due to production cuts and oil inventories becoming depleted.
Brent crude oil increased US$0.90 to US$59.74 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) jumped US$0.98 to US$57.21/barrel. Western Canadian Select (WCS) went up US$0.48 at US$45.18/barrel.
At the opening the TSX/S&P Composite Index gained 126.06 points at 18,041.97 just hours after the United States Senate passed a US$1.9 trillion pandemic recovery plan.
For the first time in days, gold bounced up, rising US$8.64 at US$1,802.68 per ounce.
