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A Canadian one dollar coin.© Shaun Best / Reuters

The Canadian dollar closed higher Thursday amid positive economic news from Europe and China and rising commodity prices.

The loonie gained 0.08 of a cent to end at 89.02 cents (U.S.).

Financial information company Markit said its composite purchasing managers' index for the euro zone – a gauge of business activity across the manufacturing and services sectors – rose to 52.2 points in October from 52.0 in September. Anything above 50 indicates expansion.

Also, HSBC's preliminary version of an index based on a survey of Chinese factory purchasing managers rose to 50.4 from 50.2 in September. HSBC's chief China economist, Hongbin Qu, said manufacturing likely stabilized in October but the world's No. 2 economy continues to show signs of "insufficient" demand.

Financial markets have been volatile over the past month amid worries that the euro zone could slip back into recession and that China's economy was weakening.

The loonie had slipped 0.12 of a cent Wednesday as the Bank of Canada left its key rate unchanged at one per cent.

Prices were mixed on commodity markets with December crude ahead $1.57 to $82.09 a barrel after data showed U.S. inventories were much higher than expected last week and a stronger U.S. currency had pushed oil prices to a two-year low.

December copper gained 2 cents to $3.04 a pound while December gold bullion fell $16.40 to $1,229.10 an ounce.

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Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 29/03/24 1:13am EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
CADUSD-FX
Canadian Dollar/U.S. Dollar
-0.09%0.73783

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