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 0.9768 0.3716 0.2002 1.5520 0.1605 0.01929 0.000091 0.01174 0.3249 0.06939 0.9291 0.1618 0.3902 0.02035 0.3359 0.9599 0.10480 0.001176 0.1496 1.3083 0.04298 0.04037 0.3072 1.7911 1.2596 0.000055
Financial highlights
Highlights at the close Thursday at world financial market trading. Stocks:
S&P/TSX Composite Index – 15,269.27, up 11.37 points Dow – 24,483.05, up 293.60 points
S&P 500 – 2,663.99, up 21.80 points
Nasdaq – 7,140.25, up 71.22 points
Currencies:
Cdn – 79.39 cents US, down 0.08 of a cent
Pound – C$1.7911, up 0.56 of a cent
Euro – C$1.5520, down 0.53 of a cent
Euro – US$1.2321, down 0.54 of a cent
Oil futures:
US$67.07, up 25 cents
(May contract)
Gold futures:
US$1,341.90 per oz., down $18.10 (June contract)
Canadian Fine Silver Handy and Harman:
$21.725 oz., down 30 cents $698.46 kg., down $9.64
The markets today
Canada’s main stock index closed up slightly Thursday as oil prices continued to rise, while U.S. markets saw strong gains.
The positive day on the markets came in a lull in news from the trade and security disputes that have roiled markets recently, said Kash Pashootan, CEO and chief investment officer at First Avenue Investment Counsel Inc.
“We’ve had a buildup of political uncertainty in the United States on what’s going to happen in Syria, and really just what we’ve seen with NAFTA and trade wars, so there’s been no shortage of uncertainties that can lead to meaningful disruption from an economic and market perspective. On a day like today, we’re finding the question marks around those items still exist, but we’re not seeing any sort of development in a negative manner that’s been pushing those agendas forward. So the market is taking some relief in regards to that and we’re seeing a relief rally take place,” he said.
Minor gains in energy stocks were countered by declines in mining stocks. Energy stocks climbed as the May crude contract ended up 25 cents at US$67.07 per barrel to rise again after hitting a more than threeyear high a day earlier, while the May natural gas contract closed up one cent at US$2.69 per mmBTU. Metal stocks, however, were down as the June gold contract slipped US$18.10 at US$1,341.90 an ounce and the May copper contract was down six cents at US$3.06 a pound.