June 19, 2012 - 9:05 AM
TORONTO - The Canadian dollar moved higher Tuesday morning as investors anticipated the Federal Reserve could make a move to boost confidence in the U.S. economy.
The loonie was up 0.35 of a cent at 98 cents US before markets opened.
The Fed will begin a two-day meeting that some expect will result in an extension to the $400-billion Operation Twist plan under which it sold short-term securities and replaced them with long-term securities in an effort to put more downward pressure on long-term rates.
A decision would likely be made on Wednesday.
In commodities, the July crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 22 cents at US$83.49 a barrel.
July copper was up one cent at US$3.40 a pound while August gold edged down 10 cents to US$1,626.90 an ounce.
Statistics Canada reported that wholesale sales rose 1.5 per cent in April to $49.3 billion, mainly due to a 48.5 per cent increase in sales of agricultural supplies. Excluding that industry, overall sales were unchanged from March.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012