By James Langton
(February 16 – 09:00 ET) – Traders are looking to critical U.S. inflation data due out tomorrow and Friday.
At 10:30 ET today, the Bank of Canada will release an updated monetary policy statement and minutes of its last meeting. The Bank is not expected to do anything to deviate from the direction taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Statistics Canada reported sales by new motor vehicles dealers rose 8.5% in December, the largest monthly increase since December 1997. It also announced the results of a new survey that found that at least half of new companies in Canada go out of business before their third birthday, and only about one-fifth of them survive 10 years.
In Europe markets are mixed once again. Banks and media stocks are up. Duetsche Telekom is leading the German market after announcing a deal to buy an Internet provider Lagardere SCA Club Internet for US$2 billion in stock. London’s FTSE is up 56 points to 6,061. Germany’s DAX has added 21 points to 7,417, and France’s CAC 40 is down 74 points to 6,018.
In Asia markets were up on gains in bank shares and a general follow through on yesterday’s U.S. rally. The Nikkei finished up 231 points to 19,599. The Hang Seng recuped much of yesterday’s 500 point drop, closing up 355 points to 17,043.
In other news ATI Technologies is buying ArtX Inc. of Palo Alto, Ca. for $400 million in stock and options. ArtX develops high-performance graphics for both PCs and consumer appliances. British construction firm AMEC PLC is buyingCanadian rival AGRA Inc. for $351 million in cash and stock. Imax Corp is reporting profit of 53¢ per share, up from a loss last year of 56¢.