Bank of Canada outlook drives down loonie and Toronto stock market

The Canadian Press
Published Wednesday, April 24, 2019 2:28AM EDT
Last Updated Wednesday, April 24, 2019 4:25PM EDT

TORONTO -- The Bank of Canada's more dovish outlook drove the loonie to a near four-month low and helped to pull the Toronto stock market from its record high.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 82.88 points to 16,586.52.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 59.34 points at 26,597.05. The S&P 500 index was down 6.43 points at 2,927.25, while the Nasdaq composite was down 18.81 points to 8,102.01.

The Canadian dollar traded at an average of 74.21 cents US compared with an average of 74.51 cents US on Tuesday following the Bank of Canada's latest interest rate announcement. The central bank kept its key interest rate target on hold at 1.75 per cent, but it also dropped any mention of future rate hikes in its statement.

The June crude contract was down 41 cents at US$65.89 per barrel and the June natural gas contract was up 0.1 of a cent at US$2.50 per mmBTU.

The June gold contract was up US$6.20 at US$1,279.40 an ounce and the May copper contract was up 1.65 cents at US$2.91 a pound.

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