By MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, March 30 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar was lower on Monday, due to struggling crude oil prices.
The dollar finished the day at US$0.7064 or US$1=C$1.4156, compared to Friday when it closed at US$0.7114 or US$1=C$1.4056.
Benchmark crude oil prices were down on Monday, hitting their lowest levels in 18 years. Reduced demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with the Saudi-Russian oil price war has the market flooded with cheap crude.
Brent crude oil fell US$2.33 to close at US$22.60 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil lost US$1.30 at US$20.21 per barrel. Western Canadian Select (WCS) was down 80 cents at US$4.26 per barrel.
The TSX Composite Index was up 350.76 points to close at 13,038.50.
Gold was down US$5.91 at 1,622.24 per ounce.
Canada’s agricultural sector fared as follows:
Buhler Industries                unchanged      at $  2.95
Linamar Corp.                    up  $ 0.03     at $ 28.13
Maple Leaf Foods                 up  $ 1.09     at $ 23.86
Nutrien Ltd.                     up  $ 2.47     at $ 45.93
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc.    up  $ 1.10     at $ 47.18
Rocky Mountain Dealerships Inc.  up  $ 0.15     at $  3.84
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)
            
                                