MONEY IN BRIEF
Currencies
OTTAWA (CP) — These are indicative wholesale rates for foreign currency provided by the Bank of Canada on Friday. Quotations in Canadian funds. Australia dollar 0.9141 Brazil real 0.3429 China renminbi 0.1901 Euro 1.4702 Hong Kong dollar 0.168 India rupee 0.01913 Indonesia rupiah 0.000093 Japan yen 0.01207 Malaysia ringgit 0.3167 Mexico peso 0.06884 N.Z. dollar 0.8675 Norway krone 0.1521 Peruvian new sol 0.3977
Russia rouble 0.02054
Saudi riyal 0.3493 Singapore dollar 0.9628
South Africa rand 0.09235
South Korean won 0.001115
Sweden krona 0.1389 Switzerland franc 1.3206 Taiwanese dollar 0.04202 Thailand baht 0.04256 Turkey lira 0.2328 U.K. pound 1.6393 U.S. dollar 1.3099
Vietnam dong 0.000056
The markets today
TORONTO (CP) — Canada’s main stock index ended a holiday week on a down note after gold prices fell from a six-year high and a strong U.S. jobs report undercut hopes of an interest rate cut this month. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 46.86 points at 16,541.99, partially rebounding after hitting an intraday low of 16,469.92.
U.S. markets resuming from the July 4 holiday fell from record highs as 224,000 jobs were added in June, beating expectations and suggesting that the economy is stronger than some have speculated. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 43.88 at 26,922.12. The S&P 500 index was down 5.41 points at 2,990.41, while the Nasdaq composite was down 8.44 points at 8,161.79.
The stronger employment picture could convince the Federal Reserve that extra stimulus is not required from lower interest rates. “Given the topsy-turvy bizarro world we live in today, good news is bad news I guess because then the rate cut isn’t priced in nearly as strongly,” said Les Stelmach, portfolio manager at Franklin Bissett Investment Management. Before the global financial crisis, the economy and interest rates moved in tandem so a good day for the economy was also good for the stock market, he said.
Now, the stock market rises on bad news and falls on good signals because of the impact on central banks. North American markets increased in June on investor belief that a weakening global economy would get central banks to cut rates. Stelmach said the jobs report probably just delayed rate cuts. Eight of the 11 major sectors of the TSX were lower on Friday, led by a 1.12 per cent decrease by materials with First Quantum Minerals Ltd. dropping 2.65 per cent, followed by Teck Resources Ltd. and Barrick Gold Corp.
The August gold contract was down US$20.80 at US$1,400.10 an ounce and the September copper contract was down 2.2 cents at US$2.66 a pound. The Canadian dollar traded for an average of 76.34 cents US compared with an average of 76.58 cents US on Thursday. The August crude contract was up 17 cents at US$57.51 per barrel and the August natural gas contract was up 12.8 cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.