Canadian Financial Close: Loonie down, crude oil recovers

Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar declined on Friday, but remained above the 74 United States cent mark.

The loonie was at US$0.7408 or US$1=C$1.3499, compared to US$0.7422 or US$1=C$1.3474 on Thursday. Statistics Canada reported today the country’s real gross domestic product grew by 0.2 per cent in July, while also giving a preliminary estimate for August at no change.

The U.S. Dollar Index was down 0.14 of a point at 100.38 after hitting its lowest point over the past year at 100.16 earlier in the day.

Crude oil recovered some of its losses over the past two days after Israel claimed its missiles hit Hezbollah’s headquarters in Lebanon. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained US$0.88 at US$68.55 per barrel. Brent crude oil increased US$0.74 at US$72.34/barrel.

The TSX/S&P Composite Index shed 77.01 points at 23,956.82, one day after closing above 24,000 points for the first time ever.

Gold fell US$20.00 at US$2,674.90 per ounce.

Canada’s agricultural sector fared as follows:

Buhler Ind.                      unchanged      at $  2.40

Farmer’s Edge Inc.               unchanged      at $  0.345

Linamar Corp.                    up  $ 0.07     at $ 63.90

Maple Leaf Foods                 dn  $ 0.12     at $ 21.98

Nutrien Ltd.                     dn  $ 0.35     at $ 65.22

RB Global Inc.                   dn  $ 0.27     at $108.51

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)