(October 29 – 17:30 ET) – Markets closed the week on a strong upswing. Indexes across North America made big gains.
The TSE took on 141.75 to 7,256.19, with 12 of the 14 sub-sectors finishing higher. The financial services stocks performed particularly well. The sub-index was up almost 2% higher. Both TD bank and Bank of Nova Scotia were trading as much as C$1.50 higher today. The industrials index shot up more than 1.4%, almost single-handedly thanks to the strength of Ottawa-based JDS Uniphase Corp. The fibre-optics maker’s stock lit up C$20.50, to close at $245.10.
The ME rose lockstep, closing at 3,853.30, or 77.93 higher. Nortel Networks , which has been rising all week on an earnings growth report, took on another C$1.80 to $90.55. Gold and minerals continued to lose their lustre.
The VSE inched up a touch, 0.72 to 395.80.
The Dow gained 109.23 to 10,731. The S&P completed its biggest two-week gain since 1987, taking on another 20.59 points, to close at 1362.93. One of the strongest performing sectors was the paper and forest sector. Analysts are projecting strong earnings growth due to higher prices and demand from Asia and Europe. International Paper stacked US$3 5/8 onto its price, which closed at $71 5/8. The NYSE gainers outperformed loser by more than 2 to 1.
Of note was a US$5 11/16 drop in the share price of American Express, which closed at $155 5/16. A group of brokers downgraded the stocks, saying its future earnings growth did not justify the 20% gains the stock price has made in the past two weeks.
Technology stocks performed extremely well today, led by Intel Corp., which announced projected it see almost no earnings lost from Y2K set backs. The hardware maker also said it would meet the demand for computers, and its stock rose by US$5 11/16 to $77 7/8. Nasdaq swelled by 91.30 to close at 2966.52, and winners outpaced losers by 20 to 17 on the exchange.