Dollar tumbles almost a penny
Written by on May 19th, 2010 in Latest News.
Canada’s dollar and its main stock market sold off Wednesday, with the loonie losing nearly a full cent to 95.50 cents US early in the afternoon.
North American markets and most commodities all sold off.
The Canadian dollar traded close to 95 cents late Wednesday morning. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)
Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index rebounded from its earlier lows, when it was down more than 200 points, to trade 107 points lower at 11,658.
New York markets also fell with the Dow Jones industrial average down 88 points to 10,423. The Nasdaq composite index lost 20 points to 2,297 while the S&P 500 index shed eight points to 1,113.
The June crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange also recovered from earlier lows to trade up two cents early in the afternoon at $69.43 US a barrel after earlier falling to $67.90.
Oil has plunged more than 20 per cent since climbing to its most recent high of $87.15 a barrel on May 3.
The June gold bullion contract on the Nymex fell $23.90 to $1,190.70 US an ounce.
There were lots of reasons to sell.
Traders were nervous about data showing a record increase in U.S. mortgage foreclosures.
More than 10 per cent of U.S. homeowners had missed at least one mortgage payment in the January-March period, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. That number was up from 9.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year and 9.1 per cent a year earlier.
Traders also wondered whether moves announced yesterday by Germany to reduce currency speculation showed regulators were grasping at straws in response to Europe’s debt crisis and whether Chinese growth would slow.
