Canadian Financial Close: C$ Strengthens

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, July 29 (CNS Canada) – The Canadian dollar was sharply stronger relative to its US counterpart on Friday, as the currency pair reacted to weak US economic data.

US gross domestic product data came in below expectations, which triggered a selloff in the US dollar index.

Canadian economic data was also weak, with the economy seeing its largest one-month contraction since 2009 in May, according to Statistics Canada. However, the US news and month-end positioning still saw the loonie rising on the day.

The Canadian dollar closed at US$0.7659 or US$1=C$1.3056, which compares with Thursday’s close of US$0.7598, or US$1=C$1.3161.

The TSX ended higher. The S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 30.00 points, or 0.21%, to close at 14,582.72.

Canada’s agricultural sector faired as follows:
AGT Food and Ingredients—–dn $ 0.56 at $ 31.67
Agrium Incorporated———-dn $ 1.77 at $118.50
Buhler Industries————– $ 0.00 at $ 4.77
Maple Leaf Foods————-dn $ 0.73 at $ 29.72
Potash Corp. of Sask———dn $ 0.60 at $ 20.35
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)