By Markets Farm
WINNIPEG, March 6 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar was down at market close on Wednesday following a freeze on key interest rates the Bank of Canada.
The dollar finished Wednesday at US$0.7452 or US$1=C$1.3420, which compares with Tuesday’s close of US$0.7493 or C$1.3345.
Stephen Poloz, the governor of the Bank of Canada, cited a weakening Canadian economy and kept the central bank’s key interest rate at 1.75 per cent. With a looming global economic slowdown the Canadian economy grew by only 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter and 0.4 per cent on the year.
Read Also
Canadian Financial Close: Loonie rises, crude oil slips
Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar gained strength on Tuesday, closing at its highest level in 18 days. The loonie…
The interest rate freeze helped the Toronto Stock Exchange stay on the green side. The TSX was up 5.53 points to finish Wednesday at 16.092.07 points.
With a lack of fresh news from the Unites States/China trade talks, stock markets in the U.S. were also down. The Dow Jones fell 133.17 points to close at 25,673.46 points. The NASDAQ lost 70.44 points to end the day at 7,505.92 points. The S&P 500 lost 18.20 points to finish at 2,771.45 points.
Benchmark oil prices were on either side of unchanged on Wednesday as reports stated U.S. oil inventories are up. Brent crude oil was up five cents to close at US$65.91 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude oil slipped 35 cents to close at US$56.21 per barrel.
Gold was up US$3.00 on Wednesday to US$1,287.70 per ounce.
Canada’s agricultural sector faired as follows:
AGT Food and Ingredients dn $ 0.01 at $ 17.78
Buhler Industries dn $ 0.01 at $ 3.61
Linamar Corp. dn $ 1.08 at $ 51.21
Maple Leaf Foods dn $ 0.33 at $ 27.63
Nutrien Ltd. up $ 0.13 at $ 72.68
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc. dn $ 0.42 at $ 45.84
Rocky Mountain Dealerships Inc. dn $ 0.01 at $ 8.65
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)
