Loonie moves slightly higher while traders await list of Chinese economic data

TORONTO – The loonie was slightly higher in early trading against the greenback Wednesday as attention turns to pending Chinese economic data.

The Canadian dollar remained above parity, at 100.28 cents US, up 0.03 of a cent.

Traders have been optimistic in recent sessions, motivated in part by comments from the U.S. and European central banks, and higher crude prices, though a sense of caution is overshadowing any further motivation.

China will release inflation, factory output and retail sales data on Thursday. Analysts expect inflation to fall further, which would give authorities in Beijing room to shore up slowing growth by easing credit without fear of igniting a spike in consumer prices.

In commodities, the September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped 50 cents to US$93.17 a barrel.

September copper moved down 1.8 cents to US$3.423 a pound while December gold fell $3.90 cents to US$1,608.90 an ounce.