By MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Feb. 21 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar was slightly higher at market close on Friday, as the United States dollar slipped today after a week of gains.
The loonie finished the day at US$0.7562 or US$1=C$1.3224, which compares with Thursday’s close of US$0.7545 or C$1.3254.
Benchmark crude oil prices were lower on Friday due to renewed fears of the coronavirus outbreak hurting demand as the Chinese government informed businesses to remain closed for another week. Also, a planned meeting between OPEC, Russia and their oil allies was cancelled as Russia balked at deeper production cuts.
Brent crude oil lost 92 cents at US$58.39 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 53 cents at US$53.35 per barrel. Meanwhile Western Canadian Select (WCS) inched up eight cents to close at US$36.64 per barrel.
The TSX/S&P Composite Index dropped 100.53 to finish the day at 17,843.53 points, following the lead of United States markets.
The renewed fears over the coronavirus saw the Dow Jones drop 227.57 to end Friday at 28,992.41 points. The NASDAQ lost 174.37 to close at 9,576.59, and the S&P 500 was down 35.48 to finish the week at 3,337.75 points.
Gold jumped US$23.92 on Friday to close at US$1,643.49 per ounce.
Canada’s agricultural sector fared as follows:
Buhler Industries unchanged at $ 2.95
Linamar Corp. dn $ 1.26 at $ 41.12
Maple Leaf Foods up $ 0.02 at $ 25.49
Nutrien Ltd. dn $ 1.16 at $ 56.24
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc. dn $ 0.27 at $ 57.62
Rocky Mountain Dealerships Inc. up $ 0.08 at $ 6.48
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)
