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 0.8984

Brazil real 0.3336

China renminbi 0.1878

Euro 1.4808

Hong Kong dollar 0.1687

India rupee 0.01853

Indonesia rupiah 0.000092

Japan yen 0.01245

Malaysia ringgit 0.3153

Mexico peso 0.06798 N.Z. dollar 0.8536

Norway krone 0.1489

Peruvian new sol 0.3916

Russia rouble 0.02032

Saudi riyal 0.3529

Singapore dollar 0.9561

South Africa rand 0.08713

South Korean won 0.001092

Sweden krona 0.1387

Switzerland franc 1.36

Taiwanese dollar 0.04238

Thailand baht 0.04295

Turkey lira 0.2371

U.K. pound 1.5972

U.S. dollar 1.3236

Vietnam dong 0.000057

The markets today

North American stock markets rallied Tuesday after the Trump administration postponed tariffs on popular consumer goods imported from China. The U.S. government said it would delay imposing 10 per cent tariffs on mobile phones, toys and other items until Dec. 15, while tariffs would be removed entirely on some fish and baby seats. Markets have been volatile since U.S. President Donald Trump announced earlier this month that he would impose the tariffs on about US$300 billion of Chinese imports. That’s in addition to 25 per cent tariffs imposed on US$250-billion of imports. China responded by devaluing its currency and cutting agricultural imports. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 113.07 points at 16,350.84. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 372.54 points at 26,279.91. The S&P 500 index was up 42.57 points at 2,926.32, while the Nasdaq composite was up 152.95 points at 8,016.36.

Ten of the 11 major sectors of the TSX climbed, led by health care, consumer discretionary, industrials and energy.

Car seat maker Dorel Industries Inc. and toymaker Spin Master Corp. gained almost three per cent on the easing of tariffs. Canadian Pacific Railway helped the industrials sector by rising 2.6 per cent.

The key energy sector was driven by gains from several producers including TC Energy Corp, Cenovus Energy Inc. and Crescent Point Energy Corp. as the price of crude rose.

The September crude contract was up US$2.17 at US$57.10 per barrel and the September natural gas contract was up 4.2 cents at US$2.15 per mmBTU.