By Gavin Adamson
(March 27 – 17:00 ET) – North American markets slipped a little, mostly interest rate fears. A federal reserve governor was reported by U.S. media as saying to presidential candidate George Bush Jr.t hat substantial interest-rate increases will still be needed to slow down the over-cooked U.S. economy.
The Dow dropped 85.95 to 11,025.77. The Nasdaq stuttered, down 4.79 to 4,958.24, and the S&P lost 3.71 to 1,523.75. The Nasdaq and the S&P were also affected by news discounting last week’s rumours that Microsoft was close to a settlement over it anti-competitiveness suit with the US Department of Justice.
Still, the broadest market news was the interest-rate hike fears brought on by the Fed governor. Traders reacted by selling off banks and financial services stocks. The Amex broker/dealer index in the US dropped 3.6%.
The news was apparently heard in the Canadian market as well. Bank stocks, usually the first to feel the pain from interest-rate-hike rumours, dropped. TD slipped by C$ 1 to $37.90. The Royal Bank dropped $1.15 to $68, and the Bank of Montreal tipped down by $1.50 to $49.85.
The TSE closed down 16.60, to 10,036.08 despite the upward momentum of BCE and Nortel, which closed up C$3.50 to $199.75, and $2.70 to $207.75 respectively.
The CDNX was stripped of 25.23 to 4396.24. Mining and oil and gas issues lead the way down, although Poplar Resources and Savanna Resources, which have been at the top of the most-active list lately, still climbed a little.