Canadian Financial Close: C$ Rises In Narrow Trade

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, March 3 – The Canadian dollar edged higher against its US counterpart Thursday, reacting largely to technicals in the absence of any hard domestic data. The prospects for a rate cut by the Bank of Canada seem to have vanished, resulting in range-bound trade, according to an analyst.

The Canadian dollar closed at US$0.7465 or US$1 = 1.3396 which compared with Wednesday’s close of US$0.7448 or US$1 = C$1.3427.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index posted gains on Thursday, due to advances in gold and the energy sector. Base-metal stocks also finished higher while Canadian Natural Resources jumped 9%.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 105.72 points, or 0.81%, to 13,123.65.

Canada’s agricultural sector performed as follows:
AGT Food and Ingredients—–up $ 0.55 at $ 36.78
Agrium Incorporated———-up $ 0.84 at $118.11
Buhler Industries————dn $ 0.08 at $ 4.95
Maple Leaf Foods————-dn $ 0.19 at $ 25.79
Potash Corp. of Sask———up $ 0.48 at $ 24.97

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)