MONEY IN BRIEF

Currencies

OTTAWA — (CP) These are indicative wholesale rates for foreign currency provided by the Bank of Canada on Thursday. Quotations in Canadian funds. Australia dollar 0.9274 Brazil real 0.3471 China renminbi 0.1891 Euro 1.5093 Hong Kong dollar 0.1664 India rupee 0.01761 Indonesia rupiah 0.000086

Japan yen 0.01162

Malaysia ringgit 0.3135 Mexico peso 0.06855

N.Z. dollar 0.8496

Norway krone 0.1587 Peruvian new sol 0.3918 Russia rouble 0.01969

Saudi riyal 0.3476 Singapore dollar 0.9461

South Africa rand 0.08927 South Korean won 0.001147 Sweden krona 0.1449 Switzerland franc 1.3175 Taiwanese dollar 0.04204 Thailand baht 0.03986 Turkey lira 0.2182 U.K. pound 1.7235 U.S. dollar 1.3038

Vietnam dong 0.000056

The markets today

TORONTO (CP) — Canada’s main stock index hit a sixmonth low Thursday while U.S. stock markets suffered another selloff day as investors are pricing in political and trade uncertainties they’ve long overlooked.

The result is they have now woken up to issues that have existed for the last six to 12 months, says Kash Pashootan, CEO and chief investment officer at First Avenue Investment Counsel Inc.

“The longer they shrug them off the more of a price we have to pay at some point,” he said in an interview.

“When you’re trying to price in uncertainties that have existed for six, 12, 18 months over four or five trading sessions, of course you’re going to feel that in the markets.”

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 200.27 points to 15,317.13, the lowest level since April with 389 million shares traded.

The 1.3 per cent selloff came a day after the TSX shed more than 330 points in the largest one-day decline in more than three years.

Energy posted the largest decrease, falling 3.37 per cent in a pullback from steady gains. The November crude contract was down US$2.20 at US$70.97 per barrel.

Gold stocks rose nearly eight per cent as the price of gold hit its highest level since August as investors sought a hedge against uncertainty. The December gold contract was up US$34.20 at US$1,227.60 an ounce.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 545.91 points to 25,052.83 after dropping more than 800 points on Wednesday. All companies were in the red for a second-straight day. The S&P 500 index was down 57.31 points to 2,728.37, while the Nasdaq composite was down 92.99 points at 7,329.06 Pashootan says the hemorrhage likely hasn’t ended. “I would not be surprised if we saw a 10 to 15 per cent correction in the market,” he said, noting that the S&P 500 had gone 74 consecutive days without any plus or minus move above one per cent. Even sophisticated and experienced investors have become accustomed over the last decade to a pretty easy ride in equities, he said.

The Canadian dollar traded at an average of 76.70 cents US compared with an average of 76.97 cents US on Wednesday.