Canadian Financial Close: Loonie, crude oil rise

WINNIPEG – The Canadian dollar closed at its highest level since late November on Thursday.

The loonie closed at US$0.7491 or US$1=C$1.3349, up from US$0.7467 or US$1=C$1.3393 on Wednesday. Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported on Thursday that Canadian job vacancies fell 2.4 per cent in November, lowering the number of vacant jobs at approximately 850,000. The job vacancy rate sat at 4.8 per cent for the month, the lowest since June 2021.

The United States Dollar Index gained 0.17 of a point at 101.81. The U.S. economy expanded 2.9 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to 3.2 per cent in the third quarter, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Thursday.

Crude oil prices went up on Thursday due to higher-than-expected growth for the U.S. economy and signs of increasing Chinese demand. Brent crude oil advanced US$1.42 per barrel to US$87.54. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained US$0.97 at US$81.12/barrel. Western Canadian Select (WCS) was up US$0.61/barrel to US$57.68.

The TSX/S&P Composite Index surged 100.90 points to 20,700.50.

Gold was down US$12.90 at US$1,929.70 per ounce.

Canada’s agricultural sector fared as follows:

Buhler Ind.                      unchanged      at $  2.14

Farmer’s Edge Inc.               dn  $ 0.01     at $  0.25

Linamar Corp.                    up  $ 2.21     at $ 66.14

Maple Leaf Foods                 up  $ 0.24     at $ 25.43

Nutrien Ltd.                     up  $ 2.82     at $108.91

Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc.    up  $ 0.29     at $ 78.16

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)