Canadian Financial Close: TSX Plummets, C$ Hits 11-Year Low

By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, December 7 – The Canadian dollar hit an 11-year low against its US counterpart Monday as a sharp drop in crude oil spurred widespread selloffs right across the board. A barrel of crude was trading for US$37.75 on the New York Mercantile Exchange at close Monday.

The Canadian dollar closed at US$0.7400 or US$1 = C$1.3513.

The TSX also fell off a virtual cliff Monday on the back of a bearish oil sector. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries declared it would not slash current production levels in an apparent bid to force US shale exploration companies to blink first. It was back in July of 2014 that oil was sitting at US$110 a barrel.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 315.94 points, or
2.37%, to 13,042.83.

Canada’s agricultural sector faired as follows:
AGT Food and Ingredients—–up $ 0.06 at $ 31.90
Agrium Incorporated———-dn $ 0.38 at $131.92
Buhler Industries————– $ 0.00 at $ 5.55
Maple Leaf Foods————-dn $ 0.29 at $ 22.01
Potash Corp. of Sask———dn $ 0.39 at $ 24.95
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)