By James Langton
(August 4 – 13:00 ET) – Stocks are firm today on favourable employment data from the U.S., indicating the Fed will likely keep interest rates on hold at its next meeting.
The TSE 300 is up 113 points to 10526. Volume is average at
53.4 million shares, more than two to one in favour of buyers. Advances are outpacing declines by about seven to five.
The industrials, and particularly Nortel Networks, are leading the way. Nortel is up 2% on 2.3 million shares. Almost every group on the TSE is up, but the gains are mostly moderate. Wholesalers and transports are also notably strong. Only paper stocks are down.
Techs are the hot stocks on the heels of Nortel, with Exfo Electro, Delrina, Microcell, Sierra Wireless and Biovail posting good gains. Ballard Power is higher. A cover story in today’s Economist that boosts the current fuel-cell phenomenon may have something to do with it, although Ballard is always a hot trader.
Financials are boasting some strong gains as traders begin to believe the Fed will leave rates unchanged. The U.S. exchangeables, Merrill and Legg Mason, are making the biggest gains.
Heritage Concepts is once again a big trader, up 37% on 6.4 million shares, although today there is some news to justify the advance. The company has been invited by the U.S. Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services to demonstrate its face recognition technology as a possible solution for passport control.
Bombardier is up 2.3% on news of its planned purchase of DaimlerChrysler’s train unit.
Communications stocks are losing ground, with Shaw, Canadian Satellite and CAE all sliding. Most of the losers are lightly traded. Thomson is down 2%.
In other business news, SNC-Lavalin reported its second-quarter profit fell to 17¢ a share from 21¢ in the same period a year earlier. The firm blames the weakness in part on the Highway 407 consortium, noting its profit would otherwise be 33¢ vs 31¢.
Canadian Tire Corp. said former executive vice president Wayne Sales is its new president and CEO. He replaces Stephen Bachand, who plans to retire by yearend.
In New York, stocks opened up on the good jobs data, but are trading mixed at midday. The Dow is down 18 points to 10689. Nasdaq is still up 20 points to 3780. The S&P is up three to 1455.
Weakness in a few key stocks, notably Intel and Microsoft, are pulling down the gainers. Financials are strong, techs are mixed, energy stocks are strong as global prices rise again today.
The CDNX is 12 points higher at 3349. Volume is light at just 10 million shares. Energy stocks are the leaders, followed distantly by tech and miners. Vanteck Technology is the active trader, up 20% to $1.38 on volume of 337,725 shares.