Canadian Financial Close: Loonie higher, crude oil drops

WINNIPEG – The Canadian dollar made a small gain on Thursday.

The loonie closed at US$0.7376 or US$1=C$1.3557, up from US$0.7372 or US$1=C$1.3565 on Wednesday. The United States Dollar Index gained 0.36 of a point at 104.54.

Crude oil prices were down on Thursday as U.S. stockpiles rose and fears of lower demand in China due to rising numbers of COVID-19 infections. Brent crude oil lost US$1.00 per barrel to US$82.26. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil declined US$0.30 at US$78.66/barrel. Western Canadian Select (WCS) stepped back US$0.23/barrel to US$50.75.

The TSX/S&P Composite Index recovered most of Wednesday’s losses, gaining 201.79 points to 19,485.89.

Gold increased US$6.40 at US$1,822.20 per ounce.

Canada’s agricultural sector fared as follows:

Buhler Ind.                      unchanged      at $  1.75

Farmer’s Edge Inc.               up  $ 0.03     at $  0.30

Linamar Corp.                    up  $ 1.58     at $ 61.69

Maple Leaf Foods                 up  $ 0.26     at $ 24.10

Nutrien Ltd.                     dn  $ 0.19     at $ 99.33

Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc.    up  $ 0.29     at $ 78.59

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)