Weak Spending Report Forces Dollar Down

Financial indicators from Stats Can are causing a drop in trading today on the TSX.  Consumers were spending less in March as retail sales slumped 2/10 of a percent.  The inflation rate held steady at 2.2-percent in April.  This lackluster news has the loonie down this morning by close to half a cent trading at 0.7764 against the American greenback. The TSX’s ten day winning streak may just come to an end today as oil has dropped 10 cents to $71.39 a barrel.  The TSX has largely been propelled by the energy sector for the last two weeks.  The Dow Futures Index is down 5 points and gold is off almost $4 to $1,285 an ounce.