MONEY IN BRIEF
Currencies
These are indicative wholesale rates for foreign currency provided by the Bank of Canada on Tuesday. Quotations in Canadian funds.
Australia dollar 0.9504
Brazil real 0.3576
China renminbi 0.1947
Euro 1.4992
Hong Kong dollar 0.1674
India rupee 0.01835
Indonesia rupiah 0.000094
Japan yen 0.01195
Malaysia ringgit 0.3208
Mexico peso 0.0689
N.Z. dollar 0.9055
Norway krone 0.1549
Peruvian new sol 0.3949
Russia rouble 0.02
Saudi riyal 0.3502
Singapore dollar 0.9716
South Africa rand 0.09811
South Korean won 0.001175 Sweden krona 0.1442 Switzerland franc 1.3132 Taiwanese dollar 0.0427 Thailand baht 0.04201
Turkey lira 0.2525
U.K. pound 1.702
U.S. dollar 1.3134
Vietnam dong 0.000057
The markets today
Canada’s main stock index posted a triple-digit gain Tuesday ahead of the start of quarterly corporate reporting by the country’s oilpatch.
Suncor Energy Inc. will be the first major Canadian oil company to report this quarter, after markets close Tuesday. The results come a day after British Petroleum crushed expectations in its fourth-quarter results, says Brian See, vice president at CIBC Asset Management.
“It’s almost like a forecast of what to expect from Canadian producers this upcoming season,” he said in an interview. Canadian earnings season is beginning as about half of S&P 500 companies have reported with most topping analyst expectations but not at the pace of a year ago when they got a boost from lower U.S. federal taxes. “They’re still positive but they’re definitely slowing down,” he said. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 100.37 points to 15,702.69 after hitting an intraday high of 15,702.69.
The consumer staples sector rose about two per cent as Alimentation Couche Tard Inc. led the index. It was followed by industrials. Health care was the lone sector to lose ground, falling 1.2 per cent as cannabis stocks dipped a day after posting strong gains. The influential energy sector was essentially flat despite another dip in crude oil prices.
The March crude contract was down 90 cents at US$53.66 per barrel and the March natural gas contract was up 0.2 of a cent at US$2.66 per mmBTU.
Oil prices fell as reports showed that Russian oil production was higher than expected in January as promised cuts won’t take place until after the first quarter, and Iranian exports continued to surge to add more supply to an oversupplied market.
The financials sector was in the middle of the pack, rising 0.68 per cent despite reports pointing to mortgage growth falling to a 17-year low in Canada. “That’s a trend that’s been happening but that is something that people are talking about,” said See.
The Canadian dollar traded at an average of 76.14 cents US compared with an average of 76.18 cents US on Monday.
The April gold contract was down 10 cents at US$1,319.20 an ounce and the March copper contract was up 2.25 cents at US$2.82 a pound. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 172.15 points at 25,411.52. The S&P 500 index was up 12.83 points at 2,737.70, while the Nasdaq composite was up 54.55 points at 7,402.08.