Canadian Financial Close: C$ strengthens Wednesday

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar was stronger on Wednesday, trading at its highest levels in four-and-a-half months relative to its United States counterpart.

The Canadian dollar settled at US$0.7501 or US$1=C$1.3331 on Wednesday, which compares with Tuesday’s close of US$0.7494 or US$1=C$1.3344.

Canada’s unemployment rate edged up 0.2 percentage points in October, hitting 5.7 per cent, according to a report from Statistics Canada. That marked the fourth monthly increase out of the last six months. The number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) increased by 0.7 per cent during the month at 443,000.

Crude oil remained underpinned by concerns over movement through the Red Sea but held near unchanged on the day. West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down by only 0.15 per cent at US$73.83 per barrel.

The TSX Composite Index was weaker, losing 238.82 points to close at 20,600.81 points.

Canada’s agricultural sector performed as follows:

Buhler Ind.———————-up  $ 0.02    at $  2.30

Linamar Corp.——————–dn  $ 0.56    at $ 63.58

Maple Leaf Foods—————–dn  $ 0.84    at $ 25.09

Nutrien Ltd.———————dn  $ 1.83    at $ 74.19

RB Global Inc.——————-dn  $ 0.57    at $ 85.79

Farmers Edge Inc.—————-    $ 0.00    at $  0.24

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)