Canadian Financial Close: Loonie, oil jump on central bank speculation

WINNIPEG – The Canadian dollar jumped Thursday on the strength of rising oil prices and the speculation of central banks raising key interest rates.

The loonie was at US$0.7824 or US$1=C$1.2782 on Thursday, down from Wednesday’s close of US$0.7756 or US$1=C$1.2893.

The United States Dollar Index declined 0.53 of a point to 95.98. The U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday it will wind down its monthly bond purchases earlier than expected. The Fed also projects three interest rate hikes in 2022.

Benchmark crude oil prices rose on Thursday due to higher demand and lower inventories. Brent crude oil advanced US$0.80 per barrel to US$74.68. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil bounced up US$1.08 to US$71.95/barrel. Western Canadian Select (WCS) crude oil spiked US$1.25 at US$56.87/barrel.

The TSX/S&P Composite Index shed 29.38 points to 20,739.78.

Gold surged US$34.70 per ounce to US$1,799.20 after the release of underwhelming data from both U.S. manufacturing and service sectors.

Canada’s agricultural sector fared as follows:

Buhler Industries unchanged at $ 3.03
Farmer’s Edge Inc. up $ 0.14 at $ 3.50
Linamar Corp. dn $ 0.64 at $ 71.56
Maple Leaf Foods dn $ 0.73 at $ 29.04
Nutrien Ltd. up $ 0.05 at $ 91.18
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc. dn $ 0.42 at $ 81.02

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)