By James Langton
(October 16 – 13:00 ET) – Mixed markets have produced more or less a wash in trading at midday, with the TSE virtually unchanged. The TSE 300 is down seven points to 10,314. Volume has been anemic, even for a Monday morning, with just 51 million shares changing hands. The selling volume is slightly ahead of the buying, and losers outnumber the winners about 3:2.
A little strength in Nortel Networks, and some strength in other tech firms is counter-balancing broader weaknesses in steel, oil and gas service, paper, merchandisers and media stocks.
Nortel is up 40¢ at midday, and there buying momentum in other tech names such as Celestica, Pivotal, Psion and Descartes Systems. Ballard Power and QLT are leading the consumer techs higher. Research in Motion is having another boffo day. The tech favourite is up $12.40 to $162.90.
The losing groups are mostly sliding with their leaders. Abitibi has the paper group down. Gulf Canada is hitting the oils, while Seagram is kicking media stocks down as it comes off Friday’s rally. Also sliding are JDS Uniphase, NPS Allelix, Alcatel, Rio Alto, Ensign and GM.
TriGas Exploration Inc. is up 25% to $3.13 after Calpine Corp. announced a cash takeover offer of $3.20 a share. The friendly deal is worth $156 million, including assumed debt. Trading in the stock has been heavy this morning.
Financial stocks are mixed, with the banks down and insurers up.
In business news, Alcan Aluminium Ltd. reported net income of $181 million, or 85¢ a share, in the third quarter, compared with 71¢ a share in the year earlier period. However this year’s profit included net non-operating gains of 16¢ a share thanks to favourable tax adjustments. Last year non-operating gains were 18¢ a share . The firm warned of softening demand in certain markets.
In New York stocks are mixed, with techs weak and a handful of stocks supporting gains in the Dow. At midday the Dow Jones industiral average is up 12 points to 10,204. After an opening higher, the Nasdaq composite index is down 49 points to sit at 3,267. The S&P is off eight ticks to 1,366.
A negative report on Intel is pushing that stock down almost 10%, hitting the techs broadside. Cisco and Microsoft are also surrendering earlier gains. Brokers are generally weak again today. On the upside, IBM, HP and J.P. Morgan are supporting the Dow.
The CDNX is flat.. At midday the CDNX index is down one point to 3,327. Volume is heavy at 25 million shares. Techs and mines are up, oils are weak. Red Oak Trail Corp is the top traders, up 67% to 25¢ on more than 2 million shares.