WINNIPEG – The Canadian dollar flirted with the U.S. 80-cent mark on Thursday morning after Statistics Canada revealed home sales increased by 5.2 per cent in March from February, an all-time record.
As of 8:55 a.m. CDT, the loonie was at US$0.7994 or US$1=C$1.2509, compared to US$0.7979 or US$1=C$1.2533 when markets closed on Wednesday.
Benchmark oil prices slightly retreated on Thursday. Brent crude decreased by US$0.24 per barrel to US$66.34. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) dropped by US$0.36 to US$62.79/barrel. Western Canadian Select (WCS) shifted downward by US$0.11 at US$51.80/barrel.
The TSX/S&P Composite Index surged on Thursday morning by 85.36 points to 19,257.02 on the strength of good financial data from Canada and the U.S. Shares for Canada’s most valuable company Shopify climbed in early trading after it was revealed three of its top executives will be leaving the company in the coming months.
A weakening U.S. dollar and lower U.S. Treasury bond yields caused gold to rally, rising by US$19.65 to US$1,756.08 per ounce.
