By Markets Farm
WINNIPEG, March 15 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar was down slightly at market close on Friday, due to a drop in home sales and slipping oil prices.
The dollar finished Friday at US$0.7495 or US$1=C$1.3327, which compares with Thursday’s close of US$0.7504 or C$1.3327.
The Canadian Real Estate Association stated on Friday that home sales in February dropped 9.1 per cent compared to January’s sales.
Benchmark oil prices were weaker on Thursday as production in the United States increased. Brent crude oil lost 19 cents to close at US$67.04 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude oil slipped 20 cents to close at US$58.41 per barrel.
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The Toronto Stock Exchange gained 52.80 points to finish Friday at 16,140.35 points. Optimism in global trade spurred the increase.
Markets in the U.S. were up, getting a push from technology stocks. The Dow Jones wrapped up with a gain of 138.93 points to finish the week at 25,848.87 points. The NASDAQ rose 57.62 points to end trading at 7,688.53 points. The S&P 500 inched upward 14.00 points to close at 2,822.48 points
Gold was up US$6.30 on Friday to US$1,301.400 per ounce.
Canada’s agricultural sector faired as follows:
AGT Food and Ingredients up $ 0.06 at $ 17.85
Buhler Industries unchanged at $ 3.61
Linamar Corp. up $ 0.33 at $ 48.11
Maple Leaf Foods up $ 0.35 at $ 27.10
Nutrien Ltd. dn $ 0.22 at $ 71.33
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc. dn $ 0.11 at $ 45.18
Rocky Mountain Dealerships Inc. up $ 0.10 at $ 8.90
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)