TORONTO – The Canadian dollar soared to its highest level this year as rising oil prices settled above US$40 a barrel for the first time in three weeks.
The May contract for benchmark North American crude climbed 64 cents to US$40.36 ahead of a meeting this weekend by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
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Officials will meet April 17 in Qatar hopeful that they’ll be able to reach a deal to freeze production and bolster prices. Crude prices have fallen from a high of more than $100 a barrel in 2014.
The positive sentiment was pumped into the oil-fuelled loonie, which was higher for a second straight session. The currency rose 0.62 of a U.S. cent to 77.53 cents US.
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Meanwhile, Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index was ahead 26.03 points at 13,422.76, building on Friday’s 130-point gain. In New York, markets turned lower with the Dow Jones industrial average losing 20.55 points to 17,556.41, while the S&P 500 dipped 5.61 points to 2,041.99 and the Nasdaq composite retreated 17.29 points to 4,833.40.
Elsewhere in commodities, May natural gas was down eight cents at US$1.91 per mmBtu, while May copper was unchanged at US$2.09 a pound. June gold rose $14.20 to US$1,258 a troy ounce.
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