By Stewart Lewis
(October 12 – 17:30 ET) – It was a rough day for traders working the Toronto Stock Exchange 300 composite index. The market dipped below 10,050 in mid-morning, recovered and then dropped steadily. In the hour prior to closing, it fell below the 10,000 mark, but recovered to 10,026.90. The loss for the day, 118.08, amounted to a 1.16% decline.
Only three of the TSE 300’s sub-indices ended the day on a positive note. It was roughest for the big movie screen company, Imax. Its stock lost a whopping $15.25, dropping to $6.55. Imax is paying the price for issuing a profit warning yesterday. Other losers for the day included: Nortel Networks which lost $1.45, finishing the day at $90.50. TD Bank lost $1.50, settling at $39.70.
The Canadian Venture Exchange lost 59.59 points, today, falling to 32907.50.
The Canadian dolar was hurt by fluctuating equity markets. It bounced today, too, dropping to US65.96¢ before rebounding to US66.20. It closed at US66.41, yesterday.
Canadian markets were in step with their counterparts south of the border. Traders were spooked this morning by increased hostilities in the Middle East. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged almost 380 points. The Nasdaq composite index chalked up its lowest close for the year-to-date. The Dow closed down 382.07 to 10,031.72. Nasdaq dropped 94.43 to 3,074.06. The S&P 500 shed 34.81 points to close at 1,329.78.
Oil prices spiked in light of Middle East tensions. They were as high as $37 a barrel at one point on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That’s close to its recent 10-year high of $37.80 a barrel, reached last month.
The U.S. producer-price index for September is due out tomorrow. Traders will be looking for sign of inflation that might trigger a rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve.