By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, January 5 (CNS) – The Canadian dollar chalked up large gains against its U.S. counterpart on Friday, fueled by a jobs report that showed Canada gained 78,600 jobs in December.
The report also found that the country’s unemployment rate had fallen to 5.7 per cent. That compares to 5.9 per cent in November.
The bullish news raised ideas the Bank of Canada will be forced to raise interest rates later this month.
Elsewhere, the loonie was pressured by losses in crude oil prices, gold bullion and natural gas.
The Canadian dollar settled on Friday at US$0.8063 cents or C$1.2403, compared to Thursday’s North American close of
US$0.7990 or C$1.2515.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 63.50 points or 0.39 percent to 16,349.44.
Canada’s agricultural sector performed as follows:
AGT Food and Ingredients—–up $ 0.08 at $ 22.06
Buhler Industries————up $ 0.15 at $ 4.55
Maple Leaf Foods————-dn $ 0.09 at $ 35.21
Nutrien Ltd.—————–dn $ 0.42 at $ 69.13
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)
