By MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, March 4 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar was lower at market close on Wednesday, due to declines in crude oil prices.
The loonie finished the day at US$0.7467 or US$1=C$1.3392, which compares with Tuesday’s close of US$0.7483 or C$1.3363.
Benchmark crude oil prices traded either side of steady on Wednesday, as OPEC and Russia couldn’t agree on deeper production cuts. Since January, OPEC, Russia and their oil allies cut production by 2.1 million barrels per day (BPD). A proposal for an additional cut of 600,000 BPD was shelved in favour of 1 million BPD, in hopes of holding off the ill effects the COVID-19 coronavirus is having on global demand. However Russia balked at the larger cut.
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Brent crude oil was down 24 cents at US$51.62 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up nine cents at US$47.27 per barrel. Western Canadian Select dropped US$1.76 to close at US$32.35 per barrel.
The TSX/S&P Composite Index gained 355.91 points to finish at 16,779.53, after the Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate today by a half-point to 1.25 per cent.
The United States markets were stronger for a second day, on the positivity from the Federal Reserve cutting its key rate by a half-point on Tuesday.
The Dow Jones leapt 1,181.58 points to finish at 27,098.99. The NASDAQ jumped 333.54 to close at 9,017.63 points, and the S&P 500 was up 127.20 at 3,130.57 points.
Gold was down US$4.55 on Wednesday to close at US$1,636.35 per ounce.
Canada’s agricultural sector fared as follows:
Buhler Industries unchanged at $ 2.95
Linamar Corp. up $ 0.63 at $ 36.50
Maple Leaf Foods up $ 0.52 at $ 22.98
Nutrien Ltd. up $ 0.44 at $ 54.82
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc. up $ 2.32 at $ 56.04
Rocky Mountain Dealerships Inc. up $ 0.16 at $ 6.46
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)
