(September 13 – 13:00 ET) –
Stocks are weaker on the flagging
US$ and revived interest rate
fears, although trading is
relatively quiet ahead of important
economic data that’s coming later
this week.
The TSE 300 was down about 47
points at midday on moderate volume
of about 52 million shares.
Decliners led advancers about nine
to seven, and sellers were
outpacing buyers by about three to
two on volume.
Gold stocks are leading the
downside momentum, followed by
other baseline industries such as
miners, steel and energy stocks.
Some high-tech stocks are also
being hit, with Internet firms
generally down in the U.S.,
dragging down domestic Internet
plays such as Bid.Com. ATI
Tech is also down sharply again
today.
While not strictly an Internet
play, TD Waterhouse was
beaten up a bit this morning after
a Wall Street analyst came out
with lowered expectations for the
firm’s third quarter. Apparently
Waterhouse’s trading volumes
suffered particularly in August.
The stock is off more than 6%.
Nortel is one of the few
groups fighting the trend on news
that it would start reporting in
accordance with U.S. GAAP, a move
that puts an even more positive
spin on the stock for U.S.
traders.
There are a few upside moves on
the TSE today, most notably
Laidlaw, which single
handedly has the TSE’s transport
stocks up almost 3%. This morning
the firm said it will sell its U.S.
healthcare business and its
investment in Safety-Kleen
to focus on its bus business, a
niche in which it is already the
market leader.
Montreal was down about 17
points at midday, led by miners and
oils. Alberta was up four points
and the VSE was down two points.
The U.S. markets have been
fairly indifferent all day. The
Dow, which has been mildly off all
day, was more or less unchanged at
noon. Nasdaq has sold more strongly
and was off 15 points or so at
noon, led by the Internet stocks.
The S&P had lost about five
points by midday.