By MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, Aug. 2 (MarketsFarm) – The Canadian dollar was firm at market close on Friday, on a Statistics Canada report that Canada had a smaller trade surplus in June.
The loonie finished the day at US$0.7561 or US$1=C$1.3225, which compares with Thursday’s close of US$0.7566 or C$1.3217.
Statistics Canada reported a trade surplus of C$136 million in goods for June, compared to May’s revised figure of C$556 million. Although the surplus was significantly smaller, it was above trade expectations for a C$300 million trade deficit, according to Reuters.
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Benchmark oil prices were higher Friday, having regains some strength from yesterday’s market-crushing announcement by United States President Donald Trump would hike tariffs on Chinese imports by 10 per cent on Sept. 1.
Trump’s move was in part to spur China into purchasing more agriculture goods, something which China has said it would do, but has yet to carry out that promise.
Brent crude oil was up 80 cents to close at US$61.30 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil rose UD$1.33 to close at US$55.28 per barrel.
As of Thursday, Western Canadian Select (WCS) crude oil fell US$3.19 at US$42.01 per barrel, much in line with declines for Brent and WTI crude. On August 1, the WCS/WTI price differential shrunk US$1.44 cents at US$11.94 per barrel.
The TSX/S&P Composite Index dropped 105.38 to close at 16,271.66 points on fears of the renewed U.S./China trade war triggering a global economic slowdown, or perhaps a recession.
Gold was up US$20.40 on Friday to close at US$1,452.80 per ounce.
Canada’s agricultural sector fared as follows:
Buhler Industries unchanged at $ 2.80
Linamar Corp. dn $ 0.19 at $ 42.61
Maple Leaf Foods dn $ 0.30 at $ 34.40
Nutrien Ltd. dn $ 0.43 at $ 70.74
Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc. dn $ 0.37 at $ 46.94
Rocky Mountain Dealerships Inc. dn $ 0.01 at $ 7.21
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)
