WINNIPEG – The Canadian dollar was mostly steady on Thursday while crude oil prices were on the decline.
As of 8:36 a.m. CST, the loonie was at US$0.7893 or US$1=C$1.2669 on Thursday, compared to US$0.7888 or US$1=C$1.2677 on Wednesday.
The United States Dollar Index was down 0.36 points at 95.58. The Bank of England announced on Thursday it was raising its key interest rate to 0.5 per cent, the second hike in three months.
Benchmark crude oil prices were down following the announcement by OPEC+ to increase supplies come March. Brent crude oil decreased US$0.56 per barrel at US$88.91. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also subtracted US$0.56 to US$87.70/barrel. Western Canadian Select (WCS) dropped US$0.71 to US$74.10/barrel.
The TSX/S&P Composite Index fell 216.76 points to 21,145.60. Meta, the parent company of Facebook which trades on NASDAQ, lost 22 per cent of its value in early market trading on Thursday due to underwhelming earnings. The projected US$190 billion loss would be the largest crash by one company in market history.
Gold lost US$7.20 per ounce to US$1,803.10.
