Canadian dollar briefly rises above 77 cents US, TSX index plunges

The Canadian Press</span>
Published Thursday, June 29, 2017 2:06AM EDT
Last Updated Thursday, June 29, 2017 11:42AM EDT

TORONTO - The loonie briefly rose above 77 cents US this morning for the first time since February amid growing expectations that the Bank of Canada is going to raise its key interest rate.

The Canadian dollar traded as high as 77.01 about mid-morning before easing back to 76.99 cents US, up from an average value of 76.57 cents US on Wednesday.

The gain in the loonie came as the S&P/TSX composite index was down 103.60 points to 15,251.98, after 90 minutes of trading.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 50.88 points to 21,403.73. The S&P 500 index shed 8.44 points to 2,432.25 and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 60.99 points to 6,173.43.

The August crude contract was up 56 cents at US$45.30 per barrel and the August natural gas contract was up unchanged at US$3.09 per mmBTU.

The August gold contract was down US$4.50 to US$1,244.60 an ounce and the September copper contract was up three cents at US$2.71 a pound.

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