Canadian Financial Close: C$ steady

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm — The Canadian dollar held near unchanged on Thursday.

The Canadian dollar settled at US$0.6958 or US$1=C$1.4371 on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday’s close of US$0.6959 or US$1=C$1.4369.

Retail sales in Canada were steady November at C$67.6 billion, according to Statistics Canada data, but early indictors point to a 1.6 per cent increase in December.

Crude oil softened Thursday, with West Texas crude oil down 1.59 per cent at US$74.24 per barrel.

The TSX Composite Index gained 122.58 points to close at 25,434.08 points.