Canadian Financial Close: C$ weakens Thursday

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar was weaker on Thursday, as strong inflation data out of the United States had investors reducing their expectations for an interest rate cut from the country any time soon.

The Canadian dollar settled at US$0.7401 or US$1=C$1.3512 on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday’s close of US$0.7423 or US$1=C$1.3472.

The U.S. producer price index was up by 0.6 per cent in February, according to a report from the Labor Department. That beat expectations and compares with the 0.3 per cent rise posted the previous month.

Manufacturing sales in Canada were up by 0.2 per cent in January, hitting C$71.1 billion, according to a report from Statistics Canada. Sales were up in 11 of 21 subsectors, with the transportation equipment and chemical subsectors seeing the largest increases at 4.3 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively.

Crude oil saw continued strength after Wednesday’s outlook from the International Energy Agency predicting a supply deficit in 2024. West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up by 1.68 per cent at US$81.06 per barrel.

The TSX Composite Index lost 140.26 points to close at 21,829.85 points.

Canada’s agricultural sector performed as follows:

     Buhler Ind.———————-    $ 0.00    at $  2.16

     Linamar Corp.——————–dn  $ 0.33    at $ 69.88

     Maple Leaf Foods—————–dn  $ 0.12    at $ 23.06

     Nutrien Ltd.———————dn  $ 0.53    at $ 71.85

     RB Global Inc.——————-up  $ 0.15    at $102.65

     Farmers Edge Inc.—————-dn  $ 0.005   at $  0.345

     (All figures are in Canadian dollars.)