Canadian loonie down following recent gains ahead of markets opening

TORONTO – The Canadian dollar was down slightly Thursday after enjoying a recent uptick from surging world markets and rising commodity prices.

The loonie dropped 0.05 of a cent to 99.62 cents US.

The strength of the Canadian dollar — at times flirting with parity against the U.S. greenback this week — has been a sign of heightened investor appetite for risk and optimism that the U.S. economic recovery is gaining momentum.

Meanwhile, there were further indications of strengthened growth in the world’s No. 2 economy as China reported higher-than-expected inflation figures.

Government figures showed China’s consumer price index rose 2.4 per cent in the year to April, up from 2.1 per cent the previous month and ahead of expectations of a more modest advance to 2.2 per cent.

Meanwhile, commodities appeared to be weakening again after a flip-flop in prices through most of this week.

The June crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 52 cents to US$96.10 a barrel.

July copper dipped four cents to US$3.33 a pound while June gold bullion was down US$10.10 to $1,463.60 an ounce.