The Prince George Citizen

Currencies

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OTTAWA (CP) — These are indicative wholesale rates for foreign currency provided by the Bank of Canada on Wednesday. Quotations in Canadian funds. Australia dollar 0.9539 Brazil real 0.3489 China renminbi 0.1893 Euro 1.5013 Hong Kong dollar 0.1673 India rupee 0.01807 Indonesia rupiah 0.00009 Japan yen 0.01156 Malaysia ringgit 0.3144 Mexico peso 0.06606 N.Z. dollar 0.8886 Norway krone 0.1574 Peruvian new sol 0.3894 Russia rouble 0.0198 Saudi riyal 0.3491 Singapore dollar 0.9559 South Africa rand 0.09395 South Korean won 0.001172 Sweden krona 0.1455 Switzerlan­d franc 1.3107 Taiwanese dollar 0.04277 Thailand baht 0.03992 Turkey lira 0.2437 U.K. pound 1.7214 U.S. dollar 1.3096 Vietnam dong 0.000056

The markets today

TORONTO (CP) — North American markets closed higher as health-care stocks gained on both sides of the border Wednesday in the aftermath of the U.S. midterm elections.

In Canada, the sector gained nearly five per cent as several cannabis stocks surged following the resignatio­n of marijuana critic U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Aurora Cannabis closed up almost nine per cent, Canopy Growth Corp. eight per cent and Aphria Inc. 3.7 per cent. South of the border, Tilray Inc. gained more than 30 per cent on Nasdaq.

The American health sector also got a boost as divided government signalled that Republican attempts to repeal Obamacare will now be stalled, says Michael Currie, vice-president and investment adviser at TD Wealth. “A Democratic victory means there’s very little chance of Republican­s repealing Obamacare and that’s good news for the insurers,” he said in an interview. The biggest gainers on the Dow Jones industrial average were large insurers like Anthem Inc. and Humana Inc., along with drug giants Merck and Pfizer. “Just the fact that it’s a split House or gridlock means that it’s unlikely that either party will make any big inroads to fighting the big pharmaceut­ical companies over drug prices.”

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 545.29 points at 26,180.30. The S&P 500 index was up 58.44 points at 2,813.89, while the Nasdaq composite was up 194.79 points at 7,570.75

The election results were in line with market expectatio­ns and avoided the worst scenario of the Democrats gaining control of both houses of Congress. “There is a consensus that Trump’s policies have been favourable to the market,” said Currie.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 76.72 points to 15,369.43.

The Canadian dollar traded at an average of 76.36 cents US compared with an average of 76.16 cents US on Tuesday.

The December crude contract was down for an eighth straight day, falling 54 cents at US$61.67 per barrel.

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