MONEY IN BRIEF

Currencies

OTTAWA (CP) — These are indicative wholesale rates for foreign currency provided by the Bank of Canada on Wednesday. Quotations in Canadian funds.

Australia dollar 0.9044

Brazil real 0.3487

China renminbi 0.191

Euro 1.4627

Hong Kong dollar 0.168

India rupee 0.0191

Indonesia rupiah 0.000094

Japan yen 0.0121

Malaysia ringgit 0.3186

Mexico peso 0.06914

N.Z. dollar 0.8665

Norway krone 0.1496

Peruvian new sol 0.3987

Russia rouble 0.02072

Saudi riyal 0.3506

Singapore dollar 0.9601

South Africa rand 0.09253

South Korean won 0.001111

Sweden krona 0.137

Switzerland franc 1.3271

Taiwanese dollar 0.04228

Thailand baht 0.04282

Turkey lira 0.2371

U.K. pound 1.6043

U.S. dollar 1.3148

Vietnam dong 0.000057

The markets today

TORONTO (CP) — The Federal Reserve’s first interest rate cut in a decade sent North American stock markets lower Wednesday as investors expressed disappointment that further cuts aren’t guaranteed. The U.S. central bank cut its rate by 0.25 per cent and chairman Jerome Powell referred to it as a “a mid-cycle adjustment” which suggests that it won’t necessarily make further cuts. Markets have risen on hope that a weakened economy and a trade war with China would prompt the Fed to make several rate cuts through the end of 2020.

“I think this disappointment is short-lived because I really believe that if the market anticipated two or three rate cuts this year I think they were fooling themselves,” says Allen Small, senior investment adviser at HollisWealth.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 59.49 points at 16,406.56 after hitting an intraday low of 16,282.12.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 333.75 points at 26,864.27 for its largest daily drop since May. The S&P 500 index was down 32.80 points at 2,980.38, while the Nasdaq composite was down 98.19 points at 8,175.42. Eight of the 11 major sectors of the TSX were lower, led by materials. It dropped 2.6 per cent as shares of several metals producers fell on lower prices, including First Majestic Silver Corp. Kinross Gold Corp. and Barrick Gold Corp.

The December gold contract was down $4.00 at US$1,437.80 an ounce and the September copper contract was down 1.25 cents at US$2.67 a pound. Energy gained 1.2 per cent as Encana Corp. shares rose 4.9 per cent after the Calgarybased company swung to a US$446-million profit in the second quarter and said it remains on track to meet its production and capital investment plan for 2019 while reducing costs more than previously projected. The September crude contract was up 53 cents at US$58.58 per barrel as U.S. crude inventories fell by 8.5 million barrels for the week and the September natural gas contract was up 9.6 cents to US$2.23 per mmBTU.

The Canadian dollar traded at an average of 76.06 cents US, compared with Tuesday’s average of 75.94 cents US. While stock markets ended the day lower, they were up for a second-consecutive month in July.