Canadian Financial Close: Loonie falls further to end week

Glacier FarmMedia MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar continued its freefall on Friday, tumbling below the 73 United States cent mark.

The loonie closed at US$0.7264 or US$1=C$1.3766, compared to US$0.7304 or US$1=C$1.3692 on Thursday. In one week, the Canadian dollar lost 0.90 of a U.S. cent.

The U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.75 of a point at 106.03, adding to its recent gains in strength and moving above 106 points for the first time since last November.

After increasing more than US$2 per barrel due to fears of an Iranian strike on Israel, crude oil prices settled down for smaller gains. Brent crude oil was up US$0.45 at US$90.19 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was also up US$0.45 at US$85.47/barrel.

The TSX/S&P Composite Index lost 210.12 points at 21,899.99 due to broad-based weakness in the markets.

Gold declined US$12.20 at US$2,360.50 per ounce, but broke through the US$2,400 mark earlier in the day to another record high.

Canada’s agricultural sector fared as follows:

Buhler Ind.                      unchanged      at $  2.29

Farmer’s Edge Inc.               unchanged      at $  0.345

Linamar Corp.                    dn  $ 1.59     at $ 66.61

Maple Leaf Foods                 up  $ 0.03     at $ 22.69

Nutrien Ltd.                     dn  $ 1.79     at $ 72.92

RB Global Inc.                   up  $ 0.39     at $100.65

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)