Rate Cut Gives Exports Boost Amid Plunging Oil: Corporate Canada

Canadian exporters such as West Fraser Timber Co. are climbing as the central bank’s surprise interest rate reduction weakened the currency, giving the companies an immediate boost while underscoring the deepening risk from the oil-price crash.

While the cut highlighted concerns about the nation’s economic outlook, the benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index climbed 1.8 percent yesterday partly on the prospect that a lower Canadian dollar would help companies that price their goods in U.S. dollars. The index rose another 1.4 percent today.