By MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, August 9 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar was up Friday morning, due to strong increases in crude oil prices.
As of 9:28 CDT, the Canadian dollar was at US$0.7565 or C$1.3283. That compares to Thursday’s North American close of US$0.7543 or C$1.3257.
Crude oil prices were higher Friday morning, as European inventories were down and OPEC was expected to maintain its production cuts.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up US$1.96 at US$54.50 per barrel, and Brent crude oil up US$1.56 at US$58.94 per barrel.
At the start of trading on Friday, the TSX/S&P Composite Index was down 38.31 points at 16,366.22, as material stocks were lower due to global concerns regarding the United States/China trade war.
The major U.S. markets were down as well, with the Dow Jones falling 107.56 at 26,270.63 points. The NASDAQ slid 60.21 at 7,978.95 while the S&P 500 lost 15.53 at 2,922.56.
Gold was down US$1.80 at US$1,507.70 per ounce.