Canadian Financial Close: Loonie stays put, crude oil jumps

WINNIPEG – The Canadian dollar was virtually unchanged on Thursday as the month of August comes to a close.

The loonie closed at US$0.7390 or US$1=C$1.3531 on Thursday, compared to US$0.7388 or US$1=C$1.3535 on Wednesday.

The United States Dollar Index gained 0.47 of a point at 103.63.

A 10-million barrel drop in U.S. inventories and OPEC+’s plans to maintain supply cuts gave crude oil prices a boost.

Brent crude oil jumped US$1.00 at US$86.86 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) surged US$1.93 at US$83.56/barrel.

The TSX/S&P Composite Index shed 37.70 points at 20,292.62.

Gold lost US$6.30 at US$1,966.70 per ounce.

Canada’s agricultural sector fared as follows:

Buhler Ind.                      unchanged      at $  2.52

Farmer’s Edge Inc.               dn  $ 0.005    at $  0.175

Linamar Corp.                    dn  $ 0.03     at $ 70.91

Maple Leaf Foods                 dn  $ 0.34     at $ 29.09

Nutrien Ltd.                     dn  $ 0.84     at $ 85.59

Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc.    up  $ 0.82     at $ 83.56

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)