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The Canadian dollar ended lower on Thursday as key commodities dipped alongside further discouraging figures on the global economy, in particular from Asia and Europe.

The loonie fell 0.21 of a cent to $1.0241 (U.S.), as traders flocked to the safe haven of the U.S. dollar.

"In speaking with other market participants it appears as though the greedy have become the needy as those looking for continued Canadian dollar strength missed the abrupt turnaround in U.S.-Canadian dollar and are now raising U.S. dollar buy orders daily," wrote John Curran, senior vice- president of CanadianForex in a note.

Among the sobering news for investors was a survey pointing to a deepening recession in Europe, figures from Japan that showed the country's powerhouse export sector was continuing to suffer and a private survey of manufacturers in China that showed activity fell again in September, though at a slightly slower pace than August.

In the U.S., the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell only slightly last week, suggesting that the hiring level remains weak. The Labour Department said Thursday that applications declined by 3,000 from the previous week, to a seasonally adjusted 382,000.

Key commodities weakened on the discouraging global data.

The October contract for crude fell 11 cents to $91.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The November contract, which traded in higher volume, gained 12 cents to $92.42.

Copper slid 5.5 cents to $3.76 a pound while gold bullion fell $1.50 to end the session at $1,770.20 an ounce. Prices for soybeans, platinum and palladium also dropped.

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 4:10pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
BNS-N
Bank of Nova Scotia
+1.21%51.78
BNS-T
Bank of Nova Scotia
+0.94%70.07

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