By Commodity News Service Canada
Winnipeg, December 17 – The Canadian dollar was higher Thursday morning as the market gained confidence over recent remarks by the US Federal Reserve and oil prices strengthened.
At 8:50 CST Thursday morning, the loonie was up 0.0022 of a cent to US$0.8609 or US$1 = C$1.1616. US Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen said yesterday she didn’t anticipate a hike in short-term interest rates during the first quarter of 2015.
Bargain hunters took advantage of the situation to pick up stocks they deemed to have been oversold, according to a report.
Traders have also responded to cuts in the energy sector as companies scale back developments in response to the oil crisis.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. has a deal to buy The Pantry Inc. would will reportedly add more than 1,500 locations to the Quebec company.
On the commodity markets the January crude contract in New York rose $1.33 to US$57.80 a barrel. March copper was little changed US$2.87 a pound while the February gold contract jumped 11.10 to US$1,205.60 an ounce.
At 8:50 CST Thursday morning, the TSX was up 352.36 points to 14,213.88.
