The national Bank of Canada has lowered interest rates to historic lows and pumped billions of dollars to ease the liquidity crunch.

But the otherwise healthy Canadian banks seem to be in no mood to take any risks.

The Canadian markets, driven mostly by energy, mineral and financial stocks, remain in the doldrums despite a two-month surge from March to May.

The Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), the world's biggest energy market where the composite index had crossed the historic 15,000-mark last year, remains sluggish.

Having sunk as low as 7,700-points, the index recovered nearly 40 percent from March to May. But since then, the index has been hovering between 9,500 and 10,000 points.

The low oil prices have also hit the Canadian dollar or loonie which is known as the commodity currency because its fortunes vary with the global prices of Canada's rich natural resources.

Currently, the loonie is selling for about 85 cents US.