MONEY IN BRIEF

Currencies

These are indicative wholesale rates for foreign currency provided by the Bank of Canada on Thursday. Quotations in Canadian funds. Australia dollar Brazil real China renminbi Euro Hong Kong dollar India rupee Indonesia rupiah Japan yen Malaysia ringgit Mexico peso N.Z. dollar Norway krone Peruvian new sol Russia rouble Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa rand South Korean won Sweden krona Switzerland franc Taiwanese dollar Thailand baht Turkey lira U.K. pound U.S. dollar

Vietnam dong 0.9817 0.3840 0.2026 1.5637 0.1628 0.01968 0.000093 0.01190 0.3304 0.07044 0.9297 0.1631 0.3960 0.02215 0.3407 0.9709 0.10690 0.001203 0.1517 1.3266 0.04369 0.04087 0.3162 1.7891 1.2776 0.000056

Financial highlights

Highlights at the close Thursday at world financial market trading. Stocks:

S&P/TSX Composite Index – 15,356.05, up 191.68 points Dow – 24,505.22, up 240.92 points

S&P 500 – 2,662.84, up 18.15 points

Nasdaq – 7,076.55, up 34.44 points

Currencies:

Cdn – 78.27 cents US, up 0.20 of a cent

Pound – C$1.7891, down 1.35 cents

Euro – C$1.5637, down 1.06 cents Euro – US$1.2239, down 0.52 of a cent

Oil futures:

US$63.54, up 17 cents

(May contract)

Gold futures:

US$1,328.50 per oz., down $11.70 (June contract)

Canadian Fine Silver Handy and Harman:

$21.856, up 4.3 cents $702.67 kg., up $1.38

The markets today

TORONTO (CP) — Strength in the energy sector helped push Canada’s main stock index to tripledigit gains Thursday as worries about a trade war between China and the United States eased. “What we’re seeing today is really some encouraging developments on the whole U.S.-China debacle,” said Candice Bangsund, vice president and a portfolio manager at Global Fiera Capital Corp. U.S. officials have signalled a willingness to return to the negotiating table after China rapidly matched US$50 billion in U.S. tariff threats with a list of their own.

The response was seen as more aggressive than the market was expecting, but the combination of assertiveness with a measured response helped increase the appetite for negotiations, said Bangsund.

“Really it did work to get the U.S. officials to sort of soften their tone and walk back...Policymakers seem really intent on finding a compromise, which has really helped to ease fears for that full-blown tradewar scenario, and really rekindled the risk-on trade today.”

The increased risk appetite helped drive up equity prices in general, but especially cyclical sectors like energy, materials, industrials, and financials that dominate the TSX, said Bangsund. In the end, the S&P/TSX composite index closed up 191.68 points or 1.26 per cent at 15,356.05, led by energy and base metals. The higher emphasis of the TSX on cyclical sectors also meant it outperformed U.S. indexes, which all gained less than a per cent.