TORONTO – The Canadian dollar was lower Wednesday amid falling commodity prices and concerns about how worsening economic conditions have affected corporate earnings.

The loonie fell 0.1 of a cent to 98.66 cents US ahead of the release of the Bank of Canada’s Monetary Policy Report and a news conference by bank governor Mark Carney. The bank on Tuesday opted to leave interest rates unchanged at one per cent while again indicating that rates will rise in the future.

Economic concerns pushed commodity prices lower Wednesday and the August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange lost 25 cents to US$88.97 a barrel.

Copper prices dipped a penny to US$3.45 a pound while gold faded $15.40 to US$1,574.10 an ounce.

Risk appetite took a hit after Intel Corp., the world’s largest chipmaker, said Tuesday that the weak global economy is slowing its growth, and revenue for the current quarter is likely to come in below Wall Street forecasts.

Risk was also heightened after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke painted a dark picture of where the U.S. economy is headed if Congress fails to reach agreement soon to avert a budget crisis.

If Congress doesn’t take action by the end of the year, a package of tax cuts adopted during George W. Bush’s administration expire while deep spending cuts kick in. If that happens, the economy would go over a “fiscal cliff” — Bernanke noted that a recession would occur, and 1.25 million fewer jobs would be created in 2013.

Bernanke also noted the economy is growing modestly but has weakened in recent months.

The Fed is prepared to take further action if growth doesn’t improve. But Bernanke noted that there is only so much the Fed can do.

The central bank chief wraps up his twice-a-year report to Congress on the state of the economy Wednesday.