Energy stocks fuel TSE gains

On a sector basis only three of the TSE’s groups are down — golds, mines and merchandising. Everything else is up, led by energy, cable and consumer stocks. Financials, industrials and utilities are all modestly supportive, too.

The all-important Nortel Networks has gained 1% on 3.7 million shares. It is followed up by Exfo Electro, QLT and Descartes Systems. ATS is bouncing back today as well, up more than 8% in active trading. Pivotal is up notably in its TSE debut. There are plenty of techs down though, including 724 Solutions and Wi-Lan. Magna, Corus and NPS Allelix are down, too.

Energy stocks are headed higher on still rising oil prices, led by Gulf Canada, Methanex and Northstar Energy.

TD Bank is strong after reporting its positive third quarter results. It’s up 2.3% on more than 3 million shares.

Recently hot stocks are all falling back on strong volume as traders forget the hype and return to fundamentals. Heritage Concept is down 6% on 7.2 million shares. Tahera’s day as a diamond darling is over, it’s down 10% on 1.7 million shares. Internet incubator William Multi-Tech is off 9%.

In earnings news, Seagram Co. Ltd. reported a lower fourth-quarter net loss than was expected by analysts. It lost US29¢ a share in the quarter. Last year it lost US13¢, although if you exclude one-time gains the loss was US32¢ a year ago.

U.S. stocks are finally up after a choppy trading morning. The Dow has gained 37 points to 11,045. The Nasdaq composite is up 50 points to 3,911, and the S&P 500 has gained 12 to 1,492. Semiconductors continue to boost the tech shares. Ciena is up sharply as expected. There’s also strength in biotechs, oils and retailers. Seagram is boosting U.S. markets, too.

Only the CDNX is down this morning. The index is off a single point to 3,324 on decent volume of 20.6 million shares. The CDNX’s sectors look strong though, with gains across the board in the sub-indices. CST Coldswitch is the leading trader up 17% to $1.17 on 4.5 million shares.