By Stewart Lewis
(May 16 – 17:30 ET) – Markets continued to gather strength today despite a brief sell-off following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates by 50 basis points. The sell-off stopped before the final hour of trading.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 126.79 points, to 10934.57. The NASDAQ composite index advanced 109.88 points, to 3717.53, finishing slightly off its highs for the day. Tech stocks continued to advance.
Bank of Canada Governor Gordon Thiessen is widely expected to follow the Fed’s lead. He appeared before the House of Commons finance committee today, saying that he is committed to keeping a lid on inflation. That’s the best way to improve Canadians’ standard of living, says Thiessen.
The Bank of Canada aims to keep Canadian rates about 75 bps below American rates, says Thiessen.
In Toronto, the TSE 300 composite index rose 300.1 points to 9582. Eleven of the 14 subgroups were up. The industrials jumped 6.78%. Among the most active stocks, Nortel Networks added $7.65 to $84.25. One of biggest gains was posted by JDS Uniphase. It gained $6.60 finishing the day at $140.00.
The Canadian Venture Exchange moved up slightly, 1.22 points to 3439.57 with the number of issues advancing equal to the number declining.