By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, Aug. 8 – Farm Credit Canada’s principal agricultural economist said a higher Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. currency will do little to hold back Canadian farmers and agri-food businesses.
FCC’s Craig Klemmer said a loonie valued at close to 80 cents U.S. may dampen some export sales to the U.S. and sales to countries in which Canada and the U.S. compete for the same business, but it shouldn’t affect too much in way of the overall economic outlook for the year. Interest rates, weather and regional issues will likely play larger roles in farm receipts than the higher dollar, he said.
Read Also
Canadian Financial Close: Loonie up as U.S. dollar weakens
Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar closed above the 73 United States cent mark for the first time in a…
In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index fell slightly on the backs of energy and tech sectors. The energy sector fell 1.08% on the day, while Information Technology was down 1.14%. Consumer Discretionary, a sector based in non-essential consumer goods, gained 1.17 per cent, and industrials gained 0.58 per cent, offsetting losses in other areas. The S&P/TSX lost 1.62 points, or .001%, to close the day at 15,256.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones lost 33.08 points, or 0.15% to close at 22,085.34, the S&P 500 fell 5.98 points (0.24%) to 2,474.93 and the Nasdaq fell 13.31 points (0.21%) to close at 6,370.46.
WTI crude oil fell 29 cents U.S., closing at US$49.10.
Canada’s agricultural sector performed as follows:
AGT Food and Ingredients—–up $ 0.74 at $ 24.73
Agrium Incorporated———-dn $ 2.47 at $125.23
Buhler Industries————– $ 0.00 at $ 4.16
Maple Leaf Foods————-up $ 0.09 at $ 34.70
Potash Corp. of Sask———dn $ 0.46 at $ 22.37
(All figures are in Canadian dollars.)
