Canadian Financial Close: TSX Advances With Possible Mining Deal

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, December 22 – The Canadian dollar chalked up some modest gains relative to its US counterpart Tuesday, taking strength from advances in crude oil. There are also ideas the US dollar is overbought which was bullish for the loonie.

The Canadian dollar closed at US$0.7175 or US$1 = C$1.3937.

The TSX finished higher as investors went bargain-hunting before the Christmas break. Toronto’s materials group received a shot in the arm from mining company Dominion Diamond, which could be on the cusp of being sold, according to analysts. A group of investors have acquired a stake in the company.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index advanced 49.78 points, or 0.38%, to 13,084.86.

Canada’s agricultural sector performed as follows:
AGT Food and Ingredients—–up $ 0.40 at $ 32.30
Agrium Incorporated———-up $ 1.94 at $126.66
Buhler Industries————– $ 0.00 at $ 5.44
Maple Leaf Foods————-dn $ 0.02 at $ 23.24
Potash Corp. of Sask———up $ 0.72 at $ 24.55

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)