By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, March 15 – The Canadian dollar climbed higher
compared to its US counterpart on Wednesday after the US Federal
Reserve announced it would raise interest rates.
The fed will increase the federal funds target rate of 0.25
percentage points to a range between 0.76% and 1%.
The Canadian dollar closed at C$0.7515 or US$1=C$1.3307,
compared to Tuesday’s close of C$0.7416 or US$1=C$1.3485.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index posted substantial gains in the
wake of the interest rate decision.
The materials group led the TSX to a major advance. Gold
mining giants Kinross and Barrick rose 8.2% and 5.6%.
The index rose 141.30 points, or 0.9%, to 15,520.91.
Canada’s agricultural sector performed as follows:
AGT Food and Ingredients—–dn $ 0.23 at $ 31.72
Agrium Incorporated———-up $ 0.47 at $128.84
Buhler Industries————– $ 0.00 at $ 4.55
Maple Leaf Foods————-up $ 0.06 at $ 31.20
Potash Corp. of Sask———up $ 0.03 at $ 22.99
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)
