Canadian dollar falls, stock markets lower

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed down 232.11 points, or 1.83 percent, at 12,442.26.

“The deceleration that we’re seeing in China does not and should not come as a surprise to the markets because we’ve been seeing this play out over the past several years”, Fehr said.

The loonie traded at 71.13 cents United States, down 0.57 from Tuesday’s close.

Overseas markets were also mostly negative after a survey of China’s manufacturing purchasing managers fell to its lowest level in more than three years, a possible sign of further weakness in the world’s second-largest economy.

In Europe, Germany’s DAX finished 1.8 per cent lower, while France’s CAC-40 fell 2.5 per cent and Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 2.7 per cent.

“It seems, these days, as oil goes, so do broad markets”, Greenberg said. Crude futures in NY slumped, halting its longest rally of the year after the China report and data compiled by Bloomberg showing OPEC nations pumped 33.11 million barrels a day last month following Indonesia’s readmission to the group.

“I don’t think the expectations for earnings for (Canadian energy companies) are going to be very high, and because they were beaten up so badly that they will maybe just muddle through here”, he said.

Still, Greenberg expects the recent fall in oil prices will diminish production later this year, balancing out the current glut of crude on the market. “It’s more of the same of what caused the market to sell off in January”, he said.

As a result, the Canadian dollar could get a lift, he added.

Elsewhere in commodities, the March contract for natural gas plummeted 15 cents to US$2.15 per mmBtu, while April gold was up $11.20 at US$1.127.60 an ounce and March copper lost a penny to US$2.06 a pound.