Canadian Financial Close: C$, TSX Decline Following Oil Comments

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, February 23 – The Canadian dollar fell against its US counterpart Tuesday, tracing losses in crude oil. The market plunged after a Saudi official told delegates in Houston his country would not cut its oil production.

The Canadian dollar closed at US$0.7263 or US$1 = C$1.3768.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index fell lower Tuesday, following losses in crude oil and the equity market.

Encana fell 8.6% as Canadian energy companies felt the brunt of Saudi Arabia’s declaration it would not be shying away from the oil market.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index declined 82.19 points, or 0.64%, to 12,763.44.

Canada’s agricultural sector performed as follows:
AGT Food and Ingredients—–dn $ 0.33 at $ 36.22
Agrium Incorporated———-dn $ 0.45 at $112.89
Buhler Industries————– $ 0.00 at $ 5.03
Maple Leaf Foods————-dn $ 0.19 at $ 22.94
Potash Corp. of Sask———dn $ 0.07 at $ 21.97

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)