Canadian Financial Close: International tensions force markets lower

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By Commodity News Service Canada

WINNIPEG, Aug. 10 – The Canadian dollar continued to slide from early morning trades. It closed today at US$0.7867 (C$1.2711) after trading early this morning at US$0.7883 (C$1.2686). Escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea over North Korea’s nuclear missile program drove investments to safer sanctuaries. The Canadian dollar closed yesterday at US$0.7870, or C$1.2705.

Tensions between North Korea and the U.S. also sent stock markets lower at all three major indexes in the U.S. Gold, meanwhile, rose to a two-month high, gaining US$12.50 (0.98%) to settle in at US$1,291.80.

Canadian Financial Close: C$ firm Friday

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Canada’s main index, the S&P/TSX composite fell almost one percent to 15,074.25. That’s a decline of 143.1 points, or 0.94%. All 10 major sectors dropped with health care, information technology and financial sectors especially hard hit.
In the U.S., the S&P 500 fell 35.81 points (1.45%) to 2,438.21. The Dow Jones fell 204.7 points (0.93%) to 21,844.01 and the Nasdaq fell 135.5 points (2.13%) to 6,216.87.

WTI crude fell US$1.14, or 2.3%, to end the day at US$48.42.

Municipalities in Canada issued C$8.1 billion in building permits in June, an increase of 2.5 per cent from May. Intentions to build more multi-family dwellings and commercial buildings were mainly responsible. The value of building permits rose in six provinces in June, led by Quebec (C$1.5 billion), and Manitoba (C$318.9 million).

Canada’s agricultural sector performed as follows:

AGT Food and Ingredients—–dn $ 0.48 at $ 24.05

Agrium Incorporated———-up $ 0.40 at $125.37
Buhler Industries————– $ 0.00 at $ 4.16
Maple Leaf Foods————-dn $ 0.41 at $ 34.09
Potash Corp. of Sask———dn $ 0.04 at $ 22.24

(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)