By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, July 9 – The Canadian dollar was higher against its US counterpart at midday Wednesday, as new Canadian housing data buoyed investor confidence.
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, housing starts rose to a level of just under two hundred thousand units in June. Royal Lepage also reports the average price of a home increased between 3.9 percent to 5.2 percent in the second quarter of 2014.
Canadian employment figures are due to be released on Friday.
The August gold contract jumped $8.50 cents to US$1,325 an ounce. September copper rose a cent to US$3.25 a pound. The August crude oil contract fell $0.92 cents to US$102.48 a barrel.
At 11:55 CDT Wednesday, the Canadian dollar was trading at US$0.9387 or US$1.0653, which compares with Tuesday’s North American close of US$0.9366, or US$=$1.0677.
At 11:45 CDT Wednesday, the Toronto Stock Exchange was up 20.59 points to sit at 15,157.77.
