The Canadian dollar rose to one-for-one footing with the U.S. currency on Tuesday, hitting its strongest level since July 2008, boosted by rising commodity prices and expectations for higher domestic interest rates.
Early in the morning, the Canadian dollar was at $1.0008, or 99.92 U.S. cents. Earlier, the currency rose to $0.9999 to the U.S. dollar or $1.0001.
The loonie last reached parity with the greenback on July 22, 2008, when it hit $0.9999 to the U.S. dollar, or $1.0001.
Canadian economic fundamentals and an improving international economic outlook have provided support for the Canadian dollar as a string of stronger-than-expected data raised expectations for higher interest rates.
The Bank of Canada has a conditional pledge to hold the key interest rate at an all-time low of 0.25% until the end of June, provided inflation stays tame, but market players have begun to price in an earlier rate hike as the economy heats up fast after the recession.
The most recent favorable data was the report on Friday that showed employers in the United States, Canada's largest trading partner, created jobs in March at the fastest rate in three years as private firms stepped up hiring.
That followed a stronger-than-expected Canadian gross domestic product report for January.
