TORONTO – Canada’s dollar was trading below the 70-cent mark Tuesday morning, breaking through levels not seen for 13 years.
The loonie was at 69.92 cents U.S. shortly after 11:30 a.m. ET – about one-fifth of a cent below Monday’s close.
The currency has been sinking for some time as a result of lower oil prices and other factors and some economists have said they expect its will fall below 70 cents US for the first time since April 2003.
MORE: Latest coverage — the plunging loonie
On the commodity markets, the February crude contract was at US$30.52 a barrel, down 89 cents, and the February gold contract was down $8.10 at US$1,088.10 an ounce.
The Toronto Stock Exchange began trading Tuesday on a positive note but slipped again into negative territory, down 39 points at 12,280.13 after two hours of trading. Canada’s main stock market indicator has lost more than seven per cent of its value since Christmas Eve, including 126.20 points on Monday.
In New York, the main indexes were mixed. The Dow Jones average of 30 stocks was up 3.43 points at 16,395.24, the broader S&P 500 index was ahead 2.10 oints at 1,925.69 and the Nasdaq gained 23.50 at 4,661.05 at 11:30 a.m. ET.
WATCH: The decline of oil has been a crude reality for investors, and prices plummeted even further Monday. Shallima Maharaj reports.
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