The Canadian dollar fell below 80 cents US on global currency
markets on Wednesday, while North American stock markets began the day
weakly.

The loonie traded at 79.94 cents US, off 2.45 cents US from
Tuesday’s finish. The dollar hasn’t closed under 80 cents U.S. since
the middle of June 2005.

The loonie shed 1.38 cents on Tuesday, after the Bank of Canada cut
the target for the overnight rate by one-quarter of a percentage point.

The Canadian dollar has been under pressure as investors move back into the U.S. dollar and oil prices continue to retreat.

Light, sweet crude oil for December was trading down $5.79 at $66.39 US on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The U.S. dollar was trading higher against the euro and the British pound.

The S&P/TSX composite index was off 353 points at 9,442 in afternoon trading.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 257points
to 8,675, while the Nasdaq composite index shed 47 points to skid to
1,649.

Global recession worries and weak earnings reports were seen as
weighing on equities. On Wednesday morning, aircraft maker Boeing Co.
said its third-quarter profit fell 23 per cent due to a machinists
strike and production issues.