It can be hard to predict how the low Canadian dollar will affect our day-to-day lives, but there are a few things that will undoubtedly change as the loonie edges closer to its all-time low of just under 62 cents U.S.
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The Canadian dollar has fallen to its lowest level in almost 13 years.
The S&P/TSX composite index added 54.65 points to end the day at 12,373.90, its first positive result since the Christmas break.
The most influential gainers also included Toronto-Dominion Bank, up 2 percent at C$52.40, and Canadian National Railway Co, which also advanced 2 percent, to C$74.91.
On Tuesday, Canada’s currency fell below 70 cents US for the first time since the spring of 2003. The Bank of Canada’s closely watched quarterly business outlook survey, released Monday, shows hiring and investment plans at their lowest levels since the aftermath of the last recession in 2009.
Overnight, the Chinese central bank set the yuan mid-point fix at 6.5628 against the US dollar, similar to Monday’s fix of 6.5626.
Golden Globe darling The Revenant and the TV adaptation of Fargo were both shot in Alberta in recent years, as jobs were shed en masse from the province’s oil sands. “That’s leading to further declines in oil prices, and that obviously is having an impact on the domestic market as well as global markets as a whole”. “But there’s not enough growth in these industries and it’s not happening fast enough”, says Madani, to really help pull Canada out of the current low-growth slump (which is one reason why the loonie continues to cushion our nation’s economy and drop in value). “But if not, the BOC could cut the overnight rate target in 2016, pushing the loonie even weaker against the dollar”.
That will include more people visiting from other countries but also more Canadians and Albertans staying home and spending money here.
It’s true that we’re gaining from lower prices at the gas pump, with USA oil actually slipping below $30 (U.S.) a barrel yesterday.
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Antweiler says we’ll have to ride this rollercoaster until Canada’s economy can diversify.
