WINNIPEG – The Canadian dollar was riding a wave of optimism on Friday morning after an encouraging job report from Statistics Canada.
As of 8:35 a.m. CDT, the loonie was at US$0.7941 or US$1=C$1.2593, compared to US$0.7903 or US$1=C$1.2654 when markets closed on Thursday. The national data agency reported on Friday that Canada’s economy added 90,200 jobs last month, exceeding expectations, while the unemployment rate dropped to 7.1 per cent in July. Canada is now within 156,000 new jobs from pre-pandemic levels.
Crude oil rose on Friday after China announced it was tapping into its own reserves in order to combat high prices for raw materials. Brent crude oil jumped US$1.56 per barrel to US$73.01. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) surged US$1.75 to US$69.89/barrel. Western Canadian Select (WCS) advanced US$1.56 to US$57.60/barrel.
The TSX/S&P Composite Index gained 19.16 points at 20,724.43 on Friday morning.
Gold decreased US$2.70 per ounce to US$1,797.30.
