By James Langton
(September 14 – 17:00 ET) –
Shopaholic Americans put a scare
in the markets today. But the
markets recovered through the
afternoon. They sold on the open
after the U.S. retail sales numbers
indicated that the economy is still
running full-bore. That fuelled
inflation and interest rate fears.
Tomorrow’s Consumer Price Index
should provide some confirmation,
or easing up, before trading
resumes tomorrow morning. Markets
are poised to react to the CPI,
which kept many traders on the
sidelines.
The TSE 300 was down about 45
points at midday today on some
fairly negative market action.
Through the afternoon, things
brightened and the TSE 300 closed
up more than 18 points. Volume was
on the light side at 106 million
shares and the market retained its
negative bias. Decliners finished
the day ahead of advancers about
11:9. While the volume picture
improved, it closed marginally in
favour of sellers.
Through the morning, just about
everything except golds was on the
downside. While golds pulled back
a touch, autos and department
stores, which are the
beneficiaries of the retail sales
report, improved this afternoon,
carrying markets back up.
Although its volume was light,
Magna had a strong day,
closing up $1.90. Seagram
also had a good day, finishing up
$2.30. JDS Uniphase closed
up $6.
Software stocks and banks
retained their downside leadership
through to the close. Perennial
whipping boys ATI Tech, TD Bank
and TD Waterhouse dropped.
Still, tech equipment leaders
Nortel and BCE closed
in the black.
Montreal staged its own late
day rally to finish 21 points to
the good. Alberta closed the day
almost unchanged, and Vancouver
dropped a couple of points.
In New York, the picture
remained negative in the interest-
sensitive stocks, particularly
financials, which pulled the Dow
downward. It finished off 120
points. Nasdaq managed to maintain
its own direction, closing up 23
points. On balance, the S&P
finished down seven in sympathy
with the Dow. Stay tuned for CPI
tomorrow.