Canadian Financial Close: Loonie up, crude oil soars

The Canadian dollar had its highest close in nearly a month on Wednesday.

The loonie closed at US$0.6976 or US$1=C$1.4334, up from US$0.6958 or US$1=C$1.4371 on Tuesday. The closing rate hadn’t been this high for the loonie since Dec. 17.

The United States Dollar Index was down 0.23 of a point at 109.05. Inflation in the U.S. was reported to have increased to 2.9 per cent in December.

Crude oil rose sharply due to new sanctions on Russian oil and an incoming cold snap for much of the U.S. Brent crude oil jumped US$2.61 at US$81.53 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate surged US$3.05 at US$80.55/barrel.

The TSX/S&P Composite Index gained 200.72 points at 24,789.30.

Gold added $39.00 per ounce at US$2,721.30.

Canada’s agricultural sector fared as follows:

Buhler Ind.                      dn $ 0.08      at $  3.31

Farmer’s Edge Inc.               unchanged      at $  0.345

Linamar Corp.                    up  $ 1.12     at $ 56.46

Maple Leaf Foods                 dn  $ 0.14     at $ 21.38

Nutrien Ltd.                     up  $ 0.37     at $ 74.56

RB Global Inc.                   unchanged      at $128.39

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)