Loonie closes below 70

The declines come during a week when market turmoil in China helped push crude oil, until last year Canada’s largest export, below $30 per barrel for the first time in 12 years.

At the same time the loonie has fallen, the greenback has surged against numerous currencies, including Canada’s, as its economy gains strength.

But Craig Alexander, vice-president of economic analysis at the C.D. Howe Institute, says despite a low dollar and plummeting oil prices, there isn’t “panic” in the marketplace.

The currency has weakened for 10 straight days against the USA dollar Wednesday, the longest run of daily losses since the country ended its currency’s peg to the United States dollar in 1971 and let it trade freely.

USA benchmarks have tumbled more than 7 per cent to start 2016 after ending previous year little changed.

That’s the plan says Canada’s Finance Minister.

Experts in the food industry believe that the further weakening of the Canadian dollar will lead to a surge in food prices. “We recognize that those are important indicators for Canadians as they go about considering their situation”.

In mid-afternoon trading, the loonie was at 69.75 cents US, a loss of 0.39 of a cent. The last time the dollar settled below the 70-cent USA mark was on April 30, 2003, when it was 69.76 cents U.S.

Uncertain prospects for global growth are tamping down demand for Canada’s natural resources, Leblond said.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX index was down about two per cent, dropping 240.16 points to 12,095.87 after an hour of trading.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 150 points, while energy stocks pacing a 1.2-per-cent rally in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index amid dovish comments from the Federal Reserve’s James Bullard.