By Jeff Sanford
(October 13 – 17:45 ET) – Evidently, yesterday was simply a temporary crisis of confidence. Positive earnings news from some tech issues saw investors flock back to that sector today.
Shortly after noon, a lacklustre trading session caught fire. Nortel, which closed at $90.50 yesterday, finished today’s session up $7.65 at $98.15. No material news, just investor sentiment. Another tech favourite, Research in Motion was up $13.50 to close at $150.50.
The TSE 300 index followed along for the ride, gaining 293.86 points today to close at 10,320.76.
The strength wasn’t market wide though. Overall, 557 issues declined while 514 advanced on volume of 139 million shares.
Only seven of the 14 sub-indices ended the day up. Leading on the upside, obviously, was the industrial products sub-index, up 6.52%. Also finishing strongly were communications and media, up 2.63% and paper and forest, up 3.04%.
Golds plunged 4.04%. Placer Dome was down on the day as money, which had been looking for a safe haven, flowed back into technology shares. Placer Dome was down 3.92% on the day. Barrick was down 4.74%.
After losses yesterday, Abitibi bounced back, gaining 6.76%, and explaining the run up in the paper and forestry sector.
Both the metals and minerals and the oil and gas sectors dropped over 2%.
Oils stocks pulled back following some steep gains earlier this week as the price of crude has skyrocketed because of the problems in the Middle East. Gulf Canada shed 3.25% toady. Crestar was also down 3.51%.
Imax bounced back slightly after shedding some 70% of its value after an earnings warning. It was up 22% on the day.
The CDNX also finished the day up 30.43 points at 3,328.03.
The loonie finished the week at US66.29¢. That’s up slightly from yesterday’s close of US66.21¢, though still low. The Canadian dollar has broken out of the 66.26-66.89 range it had been trading in for most of the summer. It actually traded as low US65.78¢ in overnight trading Thursday before recovering to its current price. Global volatility seems to be favouring the U.S. dollar, which looks like the only safe haven, even though Canadian domestic fundamentals are strong.
Equity markets rallied south of the border, too. The Nasdaq composite tied a record for the largest one-day gain in its history, climbing 242.09 points to close at 3,316.77. Internet, chip and hardware stocks all rebounded. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 157 points to close at 10,192.18, while the S&P 500 climbed 44.38 points to close at 1,374.16.