Canadian Financial Close: Loonie above 72 U.S. cents

The Canadian dollar ended Thursday with its highest close since November.

The loonie closed at US$0.7217 or US$1=C$1.3857, compared to US$0.7199 or US$1=C$1.3890 on Wednesday. The Bank of Canada will not release a closing exchange rate on Friday due to Good Friday.

The United States Dollar Index was relatively steady, up 0.01 of a point at 99.39.

Optimism that the U.S. can broker trade deals with Japan and the European Union, as well as newly-imposed sanctions on Chinese buyers of Iranian oil, boosted crude oil prices on Thursday. Brent crude oil gained US$1.79 at US$67.64 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate rose US$1.90 at US$64.37/barrel.

The TSX/S&P Composite Index added 86.02 points at 24,192.81.

Gold was down US$10.80 per ounce at $3,335.80, but not before reaching a new all-time high of US$3,371.90 earlier in the day.

Canada’s agricultural sector fared as follows:

Buhler Ind.                      unchanged      at $  7.29

Farmer’s Edge Inc.               unchanged      at $  0.345

Linamar Corp.                    up  $ 1.37     at $ 47.15

Maple Leaf Foods                 up  $ 0.52     at $ 24.57

Nutrien Ltd.                     dn  $ 1.20     at $ 72.67

RB Global Inc.                   up  $ 0.92     at $134.90

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)