Loonie inches above parity

Shortly before the start of trading on Tuesday, the Canadian dollar was worth $1.002 U.S.

By the time North American markets opened the Loonie was back down to $0.999 but will likely cross back and forth across parity all day. The Canadian dollar hasn’t been this high since April of this year. The rising value of the Canadian dollar is a result of the increasing prices of oil and gold, two major components of our export economy. In New York the price of gold rose $13.70 to $1,416.90 U.S. an ounce, after hitting a record of $1,422.10 U.S. earlier. Crude oil was up 57 cents to $87.63 U.S. a barrel. Many analysts view the Loonie’s rise to parity as more a sign of the weakness of the stalled U.S. economy than the strength of Canada’s.