Canadian Financial Close: Loonie hit with stronger greenback, weaker oil
Fed releases meeting minutes
Compiled by MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Feb. 22 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar pulled further below 74 U.S. cents on Wednesday as the United States dollar added strength and global crude oil prices fell back.
The dollar closed at US$0.7384 or US$1=C$1.3542, compared to Tuesday’s close of US$0.7399 or US$1=C$1.3516. On the U.S. Dollar Index, the greenback gained 0.383 of a point at 104.495.
Benchmark crude oil prices were down sharply on Wednesday, despite a Morgan Stanley forecast of global demand rising from 1.4 million barrels per day to 1.9 million due to China’s resurgent economy. The report suggested that China buying cheaper Russian oil would ease supply concerns elsewhere in the world.
Brent crude oil dropped US$2.55 at US$80.50 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell US$2.44 at US$73.92. Meanwhile, Western Canadian Select (WCS) gave up only 56 cents at US$57.07.
The U.S. Federal Reserve released the minutes of its Jan. 31/Feb. 1 meeting in which officials leaned towards further increases to the central bank’s key interest rates.
The TSX Composite Index lost 59.31 points on Wednesday to close at 20,193.33.
Gold was down US$7.60 at US$1,834.90 per ounce.
Canada’s agricultural sector fared as follows:
Buhler Industries unchanged at $ 2.35 Farmers Edge Inc. dn $ 0.04 at $ 0.26 Linamar Corp. up $ 0.75 at $ 73.30 Maple Leaf Foods up $ 0.38 at $ 27.09 Nutrien Ltd. up $ 3.59 at $105.21 Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc. dn $ 0.24 at $ 82.92
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)
