Canadian dollar rises, stock indexes fall early Thursday; gold price drops

The Toronto stock market posted yet another big loss to close out the week amid a widespread decline in the heavily weighted financial sector and a further plunge in the stock price of trouble-plagued Valeant Pharmaceuticals global.

On the currency front, the Canadian dollar Thursday edged up to 0.7595 USA dollar at 4 o’clock (the Canadian Eastern Daylight Time), when compared with 0.7580 US dollar on Wednesday.

Canadian stocks rallied Wednesday, with rebounding oil prices giving energy producers a big lift amid the latest interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 168.87 points at 13,868.47.

Industrial giant Bombardier Inc. was also a contributor to the decline, falling more than 17 per cent after reporting a US$4.9- billion third-quarter loss, tied mostly to writedowns on its CSeries and Learjet 85 business jet programs.

C$19.78, while the overall energy group rose 0.6 percent. The financial sector slipped 0.4 percent, with insurer Manulife Financial off 1.5 percent at C$22.23 and Bank of Montreal slipping 1 percent to C$76.93.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said US economic growth slowed to a 1.5 per cent rate in the July-September quarter as businesses cut production of goods and drew down inventories.

USA stocks ended lower Friday but closed out their best month in four years, helped by a recovery in oil prices and hopes of easy monetary policy.

Chevron announced plans to cut its workforce by 6,000 to 7,000, while posting earnings that topped expectations.

Prices for 10-year U.S. Treasuries were higher, lowering yields to 2.15% from Thursday’s 2.18%.

Consumer spending is closely watched because it accounts for 70 per cent of USA economic activity.