By James Langton
(April 28 – 09:00 ET) – Economists were surprised by this morning’s report out of Statistics Canada showing that gross domestic product fell 0.4% in February, the first drop in 19 months. The consensus call had been for a 0.4% rise. The numbers seem to indicate that the economy is not as relentlessly strong as some have thought.
In the U.S., personal income and spending figures for March were off consensus, too. Economists had been calling for a 0.6% gain in both, but income came in up 0.7% and spending was up 0.5%.
In Europe, stocks are mostly up after a mixed night of trading in Asia. London’s FTSE is ahead 110 points, at 6,289. France’s CAC 40 has gained 128 points to 6,376. The DAX, in Frankfurt, is up 134 points to 7,356.
In Asia, stocks had a mixed day. Japan’s Nikkei fell below 18,000 points for the first time in six months, dropping 45 points to 17,973. The Hang Seng rallied off Thursday’s slide, gaining 326 points to 15,519.
The hot rumours on Wall Street are about executive departures. A couple of managers at influential hedge-fund manager George Soros’ firm, Stanley Druckenmiller and Nicholas Roditi, are leaving after getting badly hurt in the market. Assets at the world’s biggest hedge fund reportedly dropped by about US$5 billion this month.
Paine Webber Group Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. brokerage, is buying rival J.C. Bradford & Co. for US$620 million, a deal that adds more than 900 financial advisers to Paine’s sales force.
In Canadian business news, Inprise/Borland Corp. has reportedly asked its financial advisor for an updated opinion on the fairness of its merger with Corel Corp.
Fund giant Investors Group Inc. is announcing plans to develop a series of mutual funds with Fidelity Investments Canada.