By Stewart Lewis
(September 11 – 17:30 ET) – It was a rough day for markets north and south of the 49th parallel. In the U.S., technology stocks dragged down the broader market. Concern about corporate profits outweighed strength in the energy and financial sectors.
The Nasdaq composite index closed down 82.06 points to 3,896.35. It fell 119.94 points on Friday. That makes a total drop this month of 7.4%. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 25.16 points to 11,195.49. It sank 39.22 point on Friday.
In Toronto, Nortel Networks dragged the TSE 300 composite index down. It dropped 1.27% — 137.66 points to 10,682.13. Declining issues outnumbers advancing issues slightly — 539 to 530. BCE Inc. rode the wave of positive media attention over it prospective deal with CTV and The Globe and Mail. The stock climbed $1.90 to $33.65. Nortel Network, on the other hand, shed $5.80 to $100.60.
It was a good day for B.C.-based Ballard Power. The stock jumped a whopping $9.50 to $162. JDS Uniphase didn’t fare as well. It plummeted $6.25 to $162.50.
The picture wasn’t any brighter on the Canadian Venture Exchange. The CDNX fell 10.21 points today to 3,636.79. Trading was heavy with 38.8 million shares changing hands. Declining issues outnumbered advancers 351 to 255.
In currency markets, the euro recovered but remained weak after falling to a new low against the U.S. dollar and the yen. Euro-zone finance ministers failed to boost the euro this weekend.
It was a quit day from the Canadian dollar. It closed at US67.57¢, down slightly from US67.67¢ on Friday.