(November 21 – 17:10 ET) – Nasdaq Canada finished its first day in the black, outpacing its parent. Nasdaq and the government of Quebec launched the new market in Montreal this morning, characterizing it as a first step in the creation of a global equity market.

For now, ten brokerage firms are participating in the new venture, trading in U.S. dollars only, under the combined oversight of the Quebec Securities Commission and NASDR.

As part of the deal it launched a new Nasdaq Canada Index, a market cap-weighted index that includes all the Canada-based firms listed on the Nasdaq. Data on this new index is delivered through a website for the new exchange.

The new index, closed the day up 8.8 points to 1008.8 on volume of 40.2 million shares. The New York Nasdaq closed down four points to 2871. The top trader of the day on Nasdaq Canada index, by far, was JDS Uniphase. It closed up 2.8% on 22.7 million shares. Research in Motion, its closest rival, moved almost 1.8 million shares, closing up 0.44%. 360networks inc., QLT Inc. and WaveRider Communications Inc. round out the top five.

The biggest winner on the day was Glas-Aire Industries Group Ltd., up 29% to US$2.625. It was joined by NovAtel Inc., Brocker Technology Group, Perle Systems and Cott Corp. as the day’s big winners among Canadian Nasdaq stocks. The roster of top losers included: DG Jewelry, Hydrogenics Corp., The WideCom Group, Globalmedia.com and Diversinet Corp.
-IE Staff