Daily Wrap-Up: Oil slumps 5 per cent as OPEC deal disappoints

Oil slumps 5 per cent as OPEC deal disappoints... Canadian wages up almost 1 per cent... Manulife CEO to retire...

Daily Wrap-Up: Oil slumps 5 per cent as OPEC deal disappoints
Steve Randall
Oil slumps 5 per cent as OPEC deal disappoints
OPEC members agreed an extension of their production cut Thursday with others including Russia also on board.

However, the 9 month-extension was at the same 1.8 million barrel level of the current deal and analysts were hoping for a deeper cut. The disappointment saw oil prices fall more than 5 per cent with the energy sector group of the main TSX dropping 3 per cent.

Half of the sectors gained though with industrials leading. But the overall index closed lower.

Wall Street closed higher despite the slump for oil while most European indexes were lower and Asian bourses closed higher before OPEC.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 8.76 (0.06 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed up 70.53 (0.34 per cent)
Oil is trending higher (Brent $51.23, WTI $48.63 at 4.40pm)
Gold is trending lower (1255.00 at 4.50pm)
The loonie is valued at U$0.7415

Canadian wages up almost 1 per cent
Non-farm payroll wages were up 0.9 per cent in March compared to a year earlier but were little changed from February, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.

Average weekly earnings were $966. Only three sectors saw an increase: wholesale trade; accommodation and food services; and educational services. Earnings were little changed in the remaining large sectors.

Newfoundland and Labrador, followed by Saskatchewan, Manitoba, British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario saw gains while the remaining provinces saw little change.

Manulife CEO to retire
Manulife CEO Donald Guloien is to retire at the end of September to be succeeded by Roy Gori who will become president on June 5.

“Donald has had a respected career at Manulife over the course of 36 years, and will leave a lasting legacy on the Company,” said Richard DeWolfe, Chairman of the Board.

“Under his strong leadership, Manulife has dramatically grown its earnings, expanded its Asia and Wealth and Asset Management businesses, delivered significant shareholder value and rallied around the purpose of helping its 22 million customers achieve their dreams and aspirations,” he added.

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