Markets lower on inflation jitters

The National Association of
Producer Management report showed
that the price of raw materials
rose again in October – this time
to the highest levels since 1995.
Traders seemed to take the news
in stride, since most analysts
are predicting another interest
rate hike from the Federal Reserve
Board in two weeks anyway.

The Dow Jones industrial
average dropped 81.35 to close at
10,648.51 as losers outpaced
winners 15 to 14. The S&P slipped
8.81 to 1354.20. And on Nasdaq,
which inched up 1.21 to 2967.64,
losers led winners by a margin of
19 to 17. Another earthquake
shook Taiwan, home to many makers
of computer chips, which slowed
down what was looking like another
good day for technology stocks.

The TSE added 14.77 to 7270.99.
Three of the 14 subsectors were
up, most notably utilities,
industrials and transportation.
BCE gained C$2.85 to close
at $91.45, and Nortel picked
up another C$4.05 to $94.60.
Placer Dome and Barrick
Gold each slipped by a dollar
as the price of gold continued to
slide.

The ME dropped 20.02 to
3,843.19. The VSE slipped by 1.94
to 394.34, although a notable
gainer was edispatch.com,
which gained 30% to close at C$3.90.
The ASE was up 16.90 at 2889.13
in late trading.