TSX, loonie lower

The Canadian dollar and the country's benchmark stock index moved lower Thursdayon financial markets that were much less active because of the Remembrance Day holiday.

After closing at par with the U.S. greenback on Wednesday, the loonie was changing hands at 99.67 cents US late Thursday afternoon.

Wednesday was the first time the loonie closed at or above par since the middle of April.

The U.S. dollar also rose against the euro and other currencies amid worries that Europe's debt crisis was getting out of hand.

Ireland is at the epicentre of those concerns. There are fears Dublin will not be able to get a handle on its massive debts and will require a Greek-style financial bailout from its partners in the euro zone and possibly the International Monetary Fund.

Irish worry spilled into equity markets too. The S&P/TSX Composite Index was 34 points lower to 12,908.6 at midday, largely because of lower bank stocks, which make up a large percentage of the index's value.

After a bull run, some said the market was merely taking a breather.

"We have had a fantastic run-up since the end of August it's been 13 per cent from then to last week, where we hit a high," said Phillip Petursson, director of institutional equities at MFC Global Investment.

"[It]is just an opportunity to do some profit-taking, and I think that's what we're seeing right now."

National Bank was down 60 cents at $65.30 and Royal Bank was off 52 cents at $53.73.

Bond markets in Canada and the United Statesand the Bank of Canada are closed on Thursday because of Remembrance Day and Veterans Dayholidays.