Daily Wrap-up: Oil continues slide but TSX closes higher

Oil continues slide but TSX closes higher... Wind Mobile secures bank funding... Cenovus Energy to cut spending by 19 per cent... Food bills under pressure from loonie, climate change...

Steve Randall
Oil continues slide but TSX closes higher
Energy stocks and financials managed gains Thursday despite continued decline of oil prices as OPEC's latest report added fuel to concerns that there will be little chance of recovering prices in 2016.

The main index of the Toronto Stock Exchange closed higher along with Wall Street’s indexes. European markets closed mixed while Asia’s had closed mainly lower earlier in the day.
 
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 79.0 (0.61 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed up 82.45 (0.47 per cent)
Oil is trending lower (Brent $39.57, WTI $36.53 at 4.20pm)
Gold is trending lower (1070.80 at 4.20pm)
The loonie is valued at $0.7337
 
Wind Mobile secures bank funding
Three Canadian banks will provide new funding for Wind Mobile which will allow it to refinance debt at lower rates. The $425 million will also enable the company to expand and improve its network. The firm is acquiring new customers attracted by its lower cost tariffs but needs to boost the reliability of parts of the network to retain them.
 
Cenovus Energy to cut spending by 19 per cent
As the oil sector continues to adjust plans with lower oil prices continuing into 2016 Cenovus announced that its capital budget will be 19 per cent lower next year. The $1.4 to $1.6 billion will be mainly used for existing commitments while the remainder will fund growth projects.
 
Food bills under pressure from loonie, climate change
Canadian household budgets could be squeezed in 2016 as food bills rise due to the lower value of the loonie, which could be an issue through the first quarter at least, and the effects of climate change on crops. The University of Guelph believes that food inflation could be in line with this year at around 4 per cent, although not could be as low as 2 per cent. The higher estimate would add almost $400 to an average household food spend. The figure includes groceries and restaurant meals.
 

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