OTTAWA

Loonie strengthens, Toronto stock market falls in early trading

The Canadian Press Published Wednesday, April 22, 2015 10:05AM EDT

A general view of the TSX board in Toronto's financial district shows a heavy increase on Wednesday, May 6, 2009. The Toronto stock market surged upward by more than 200 points Wednesday - topping 10,000 for the first time in six months. (Chris Young / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Text:

TORONTO -- The Canadian dollar was up about one-third of a U.S. cent as trading opened on North American stock markets.

The loonie was up 0.33 of a U.S. cent at 81.76 cents US.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 38.84 points shortly after the open to 15,307.60, after falling 66.16 points on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 10.31 points to 17,959.90, the Nasdaq index rose 6.94 points to 5,021.04, and the S&P 500 index advanced 1.65 points to 2,098.94.

On the commodity markets, the June crude contract was down eight cents at US$56.53 a barrel and the June gold contract fell $7.10 to US$1,196.00 an ounce after the TSX open.