A loonie is pictured in North Vancouver, Dec.31, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
April 24, 2014 - 5:59 AM
TORONTO - The Canadian dollar was higher Thursday morning amid rising oil and copper prices and a positive outlook for exports.
The loonie moved up 0.07 of a cent to 90.72 cents US.
Export Development Canada says renewed strength in the United States and in emerging markets, along with a lower loonie, will trigger a rebound in the lagging export sector, particularly in automobiles, building materials and appliances.
EDC chief economist Peter Hall says the volume of shipments will likely start taking off in the second half of this year and expand to 5.8 per cent growth in 2015.
Hall says the pickup in exports might have happened sooner but for the U.S. government shutdown in October and the unusually harsh weather throughout the winter.
Traders also looked ahead to a speech during the afternoon by Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz.
"The address is entitled, 'Canada's Hot - And Not - Economy'," said Mark Chandler, head of Canadian FIC Strategy at RBC Dominion Securities, "and we suspect that the 'hot' is likely to focus on the housing sector and household debt accumulation, while the 'not hot' is expected to reflect disappointing export and capital spending trends."
Commodity prices were mixed with June crude in New York up 37 cents to US$101.81 a barrel.
May copper ran up four cents to US$3.10 a pound while June bullion moved down $15.20 to US$1,269.40 an ounce.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014