Canadian Financial Close: C$ steady for second day

By MarketsFarm

WINNIPEG, March 2 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar held steady once again on Thursday, as investors continued to show a reluctance to push values too far one way or the other ahead of next week’s Bank of Canada interest rate announcement.

The Canadian dollar settled at US$0.7345 or US$1=C$1.3614 on Wednesday, which compares with Wednesday’s close of US$0.7346 or US$1=C$1.3612.

The Bank of Canada is set to hold their next policy meeting on March 8, with ideas the Bank may hold rates steady this month after recent inflation data came in below expectations.

Crude oil was stronger, with West Texas Intermediate crude oil up by 0.3 per cent at US$77.94 per barrel.

The TSX Composite Index was up by 77.43 points or 0.38 per cent to close at 20,337.21 points.

Canada’s agricultural sector performed as follows:

Buhler Ind.———————-up  $ 0.07    at $  2.40

Linamar Corp.——————–up  $ 0.62    at $ 75.32

Maple Leaf Foods—————–dn  $ 0.13    at $ 27.78

Nutrien Ltd.———————up  $ 5.32    at $112.21

Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc.—-dn  $ 1.05    at $ 80.73

Farmers Edge Inc.—————-up  $ 0.01    at $  0.26

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)