Loonie Opens At Parity With U.S. Dollar
Posted September 21, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
For the second time in 24 hours, the loonie reached parity with the U.S. dollar after opening at exactly 100 cents U.S. Friday morning. Since then it has slipped back to the 0.99-cent level dropping to 99.76 after a disappointing retail sales report.
Statistics Canada reported that retail sales fell 0.8 per cent in July to about $34.3 billion, mainly due to a decline in the automotive sector and slight decreases in five other retail sectors. The loonie’s rapid appreciation, up from 95 cents at the start of this month and from under 90 cents last spring, has added to the woes of the manufacturing sector concentrated in Central Canada.
“Two consecutive months of declines in real retail sales, even prior to the credit market turmoil which unfolded in August, shows that the Canadian consumer is not bulletproof,” said Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets.
But the real buzz started Thursday when it actually topped the U.S. buck for the first time in almost 31 years.
