Loonie falls as North American markets drop

The S&P/TSX composite index was down 91.12 points at 14,102.75 in afternoon trading, its sixth decline in the last seven sessions but well off its triple-digit decline earlier in the session.

Volatility at the beginning of the summer after the Bank of Canada announced another cut to its benchmark interest rate, and a slide in oil to new lows, could have caused many market participants to delay their vacations, he said.

In some upbeat economic news, a Commerce Department report on Tuesday showed housing starts in the U.S.to have risen to a near eight-year high in July, while indicating a sharp drop in building permits.

The Toronto Stock Exchange took at triple-digit plunge early Tuesday amid concern about the strength of China’s economy.

The loonie traded at 76.39 cents US, down 0.03 of a U.S. cent from Monday’s close.

The sell-off followed Beijing’s efforts to stabilize the market, including share buying by state-owned companies and a ban on selling by certain major shareholders.

North American markets were lower Wednesday amid persistent uncertainty over the health of the Chinese economy.

“Copper has been particularly sensitive to China because of infrastructure build”, Cieszynski said.

In commodities, the September crude contract was down $1.97 at US$41.15 a barrel following an unexpected increase in U.S. crude inventories, while September natural gas edged up one cent to US$2.71 per thousand cubic feet and copper lost a penny to US$2.27 a pound.

Industrials and utilities were also in negative territory as Emera Inc. lost 2 percent and ATCO Ltd. shed 1.4 percent.

“It’s not a clear-cut story of this is good and getting better, it’s a lot of stop and go”, he said.