Parents Satbir and Amanvir Badesha welcomed their newborn son Hukam Mohan Singh Badesha with a big party, bringing in the Golden Star Malkit Singh all the way from England to the celebrations held in December.
Canadian dollar again fell against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, closing below the 70-cent US level for the first time since April 30, 2003. North American stock markets also ended the day markedly lower, with triple-digit losses in both Toronto and New York.
The loonie closed at 69.71 cents US, down 0.43 cents from Tuesday’s close. Earlier in the day, it traded as low as 69.54 cents US, reported CBC News.
Stock markets sold off in a major way. The S&P/TSX composite index closed 203 points lower, or 1.6 per cent, at 12,170, led by losses in the energy, financial and industrial sectors.
The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 365 points, or 2.2 per cent, to end the trading day at 16,152, while the broader S&P 500 index fell 48 points, or 2.5 per cent, to 1,890.
Crude oil futures rose four cents to settle at $30.48 US a barrel in New York trading — the first daily gain after eight straight losing sessions. The futures contract had been up more than $1 earlier in the trading session.
That early gain all but evaporated when the U.S. Energy Information Administration released its weekly inventory report that showed a build in crude supplies and a big surge in diesel and gasoline stockpiles.
Crude oil futures briefly slipped below $30 US a barrel in New York trading on Tuesday.
“The risk markets, near term, are still going to be paying closest attention to the price of oil,” said Mark Heppenstall,
The early surge in crude prices followed reports from China that its exports dipped by just 1.4 per cent in U.S. dollar terms in December. Analysts had predicted that exports would fall by eight per cent.
The data suggests that China’s move to weaken its currency may be helping to boost the slowing Chinese economy.
