By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, February 11 – The Canadian dollar was little changed against its US counterpart Thursday as surging prices for gold bullion helped offset worries over the global economy. The April gold contract jumped US$52.30 to US$1,247.80 an ounce.
The Canadian dollar closed at US$0.7183 or US$1 = C$1.3921.
Speculation that central banks around the world won’t be able to support the global economy weighed down markets in North America and Asia. The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index declined for the 5th straight day, partially as a result of faltering financials and health-care stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 98.35 points, or 0.81%, to 12,087.37.
Canada’s agricultural sector performed as follows:
AGT Food and Ingredients—–up $ 0.26 at $ 34.69
Agrium Incorporated———-dn $ 0.26 at $114.16
Buhler Industries————up $ 0.01 at $ 5.03
Maple Leaf Foods————-dn $ 0.22 at $ 22.78
Potash Corp. of Sask———up $ 0.53 at $ 21.82
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)