Canadian dollar, US index futures rise despite another loss on Shanghai market

The fallout from the commodities price collapse is now spreading far beyond the oil patch, souring the mood of Canadian businesses and derailing their plans to hire and invest.

The Canadian dollar was basically unchanged, hovering around the 70.4 cents USA mark.

“For today and broadly for this year, the oil market seems to be dictating the script for the TSX”, said Shailesh Kshatriya, a director in the Canadian strategy group at Russell Investments Canada.

Oil prices have dropped precipitously over the past year and a half, falling from above US$105 in June 2014 to levels not seen in more than a decade.

At the same time the loonie has fallen, the greenback has surged against numerous currencies, including Canada’s, as its economy gains strength. The last time the dollar settled below that threshold was on April 30, 2003, when it closed at 69.76 cents U.S. “I have been a selective buyer over the course of the last few trading days”.

The index fell on Monday for the ninth straight day, pressured by a plunge in crude oil prices. The world’s biggest gold producer by market value will increasingly have to look for large deposits outside the Americas as these are scarcer than “hen teeth”, its incoming chief executive said on Monday. “We recognize that those are important indicators for Canadians as they go about considering their situation”.

The main USA equity benchmark’s tumble to start 2016 has left it 9.5 per cent below its all-time high set in May after coming within 1 per cent of the record as recently as November.

The last time Canada’s dollar was worth more than the greenback was about three years ago, in February 2013.

The S&P/TSX composite index added 54.65 points to end the day at 12,373.90, its first positive result since the Christmas break.

On the commodity markets, the February crude contract was at US$32 a barrel, up 59 cents, and the February gold contract was down $8.70 at US$1,087.50 an ounce.

In New York, markets were mixed, with the Dow Jones up 52.12 points at 16,398.57, while the S&P500 gained 1.64 points to 1,923.67.