Loonie, Canadian stocks sag as Brexit vote nears
The loonie, a barrel of oil and Canadian stocks limped through a down day on Thursday ahead of the looming Brexit vote.
The price for benchmark U.S. crude oil for July sank $1.80 to close at $46.21 US a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange
The loonie, which is closely tied to the price of oil, dipped 0.21 of a cent to conclude at 77.15 cents US, its sixth straight losing session.
On Bay Street, the S&P/TSX composite index fell 41.04 points to end at 13,882.41.
Meanwhile, U.S. stocks, which spent the morning in the red, ultimately finished with gains to end a five-session losing streak.
The Dow Jones industrial rose 92.93 points to wrap up the day at 17,733.10. The broader S&P 500 added 6.49 points to finish at 2,077.99, while the Nasdaq composite ended at 4,844.92, up 9.99 points.
The market volatility comes as Britain prepares to vote on June 23 whether to remain in the European Union. Ahead of that vote, the Bank of England, which kept its rates on hold as well on Thursday, said a vote to leave would likely send the pound dropping sharply, and hurt spending and investment.
Meanwhile, the August gold contract gained $10.10 to settle at $1298.40 US. Although it topped $1,300 an ounce earlier in the session, the metal wasn't able to finish above that mark. Gold hasn't settled above $1,300 in more than a year.
with files from The Associated Press