By MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Aug. 3 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar held steady on Wednesday, largely ignoring a downturn in crude oil.
The Canadian dollar settled at US$0.7780 or US$1=C$1.2853 on Friday, which compares with Tuesday’s close of US$0.7778 or US$1=C$1.2856.
Strength in world equity markets and expectations for continued interest rate hikes in Canada helped underpin the currency.
However, losses in crude oil did put some pressure on the energy-linked currency, with early gains in crude oil disappearing after data out of the United States showed larger-than-expected increases in the country’s crude and gasoline stockpiles.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down by 3.88 per cent at US$90.77 per barrel.
The TSX Composite Index was up by 40.61 points, or 0.21 per cent, to close at 19,545.94 points.
Canada’s agricultural sector performed as follows:
Buhler Ind.———————-dn $ 0.05 at $ 2.34
Linamar Corp.——————–up $ 0.24 at $ 58.15
Maple Leaf Foods—————–up $ 0.19 at $ 26.96
Nutrien Ltd.———————dn $ 0.43 at $105.30
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc.—-up $ 0.55 at $ 92.14
Farmers Edge Inc.—————-dn $ 0.09 at $ 1.16
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)
