The following is from the 9 November 2010 edition of “theglobeandmail.com”.

The Canadian dollar (CAD/USD-I1.000.0030.30%) was just above parity with the U.S. dollar Tuesday morning as the greenback weakened against a variety of other currencies.

The loonie was up 0.55 of a cent to 100.18 cents (U.S).

The latest bout of U.S. dollar weakness comes amid worry about European government debt and simmering tensions over currencies and trade gaps ahead of the meeting of G20 leaders Thursday and Friday.

Emerging economies in particular are worried that the Federal Reserve's move to flood its sluggish economy with $600-billion of cash will further devalue the greenback and give an advantage to cheaper American exports.

At the same time, China has maintained tight control over its currency, the yuan, adding to criticism it is kept artificially low and gives Chinese exporters an unfair export advantage.

Markets are also focused on Europe's ongoing debt problems and Ireland's ability to get its public finances in shape.

“The Euro is lagging as sovereign concerns are lingering, most notable of which is the spectre of Irish debt default risk,” observed John Curran, senior vice-president at CanadianForex.

The growing worry in the markets is that Ireland's government may not be able to pass another bout of austerity measures on Dec. 7th, and that as a result it will have to seek financial assistance from its partners in the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund, as Greece had to earlier this year. That conclusion is clear from what's going on in bond markets with the spread between Irish and German ten-year yields seemingly rising to record highs on a daily basis.

The weak U.S. currency also pushed commodity prices higher while investor nervousness pushed gold further into record territory.

Gold prices added to Monday's record close with the December bullion contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange up $15.80 to $1,419 an ounce as investors look to the precious metal as a safe haven.

The December crude contract on the Nymex climbed 40 cents to $87.46 a barrel while the December copper contract rose seven cents to $4.02 a pound.