Toronto stocks regained some of their earlier losses in afternoon trading but financial and energy stocks still pulled the market to close lower Friday.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 69 points, or 0.47%, to finish at 14,723.36, as just three of the 10 major TSX groups gained today.
The financials group lost 0.58% for the day as TSX Group Inc. shares closed down $1.71, or 3.82%, at $43.09.
Meanwhile, Bank of Nova Scotia shares lost 55¢, or 1.14%, to end at $47.60 while TD Bank stock fell 13¢, or 0.19%, to close at $68.36.
Wealth management company CI Financial Income units closed down 10¢, or 0.42%, at $23.45, after it said it plans to buy back up to 10% of its publicly traded shares in the year ending May 28, 2009.
Meanwhile, the energy group closed down 0.60%.
Crude for July delivery closed up US$1.38, or 1.1%, to US$132.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract hit a high of US$133.69 during the day and finished off the week with a gain of nearly 5%.
Petro Canada Co. shares fell 82¢, or 1.37%, to close at $59.18 and shares in market heavyweight Encana Corp. ended down 84¢, or 0.90%, at $92.10.
The materials group fell 0.51%, as shares in Potash Corp. fell $2.40, or 1.22%, to end at $194.40.
Meanwhile, the gold sub-index closed out the day flat, gaining just 0.09%.
Gold for June delivery closed up US$7.50, at US925.80 an ounce on the Nymex. The contract was 2.9% higher for the week.
Kinross Gold Corp. stock fell 22¢, or 1.07%, to close at $20.27 and shares in market heavyweight Goldcorp Inc. closed up 27¢, or 0.65%, at $41.56.
BCE was a bit of a bright spot on the TSX gaining 96¢, or 2.94%, to end the session at $33.60, after yesterday’s steep fall following the Quebec Court of Appeal’s decision that the proposed $52-billion takeover by a group led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is unfair for bondholders. The company says it plans to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 26.04 points, or 0.97%, to end at 2,706.37.
The Canadian dollar closed out at US1.0119¢.
In New York, grim housing market data and rising oil prices weighed heavily on markets.
Meanwhile, reports circulated that European brewing company In-Bev is considering a US$46 billion bid for Anheuser-Busch.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 145.99 points, or 1.16%, at 12,479.63.
The S&P 500 closed down 18.42 points, or 1.32%, to close at 1,375.93.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed up 19.91 points, or 0.81%, to close at 2,444.67.
Record oil prices fueled the worst week in three months for the major U.S. indices.
For the week, the Dow fell 3.9%, the S&P 500 dropped 3.5%, and the Nasdaq fell 3.3%.
Friday close: Rising oil prices can’t lift TSX
- By: IE Staff
- May 23, 2008 May 23, 2008
- 15:40