By James Langton
(April 6 – 09:00 ET) – The economic news is scant today, but there is some key employment data out tomorrow that will have traders’ attention. Bank of Canada governor Gordon Thiessen speaks today before the Senate, although that isn’t expected to be an earth-shattering address.
In the meantime, equity markets are heading up overseas. The Bank of England left rates unchanged. Stocks are rallying up across Europe in the wake of that decision. There is strength in media and tech stocks. London is delivering the weakest performance in Europe though. The FTSE is up 23 points to reach 6402. France’s CAC 40 is up 141 points to reach 6178. Germany has added 67 points to reach 7397.
In merger news Bertelsmann AG’s multimedia unit has dropped its proposed all-stock offer for Cell Network AB and Mandator AB after its shares were hammered in the last week.
Petrobank Energy Resources Ltd. has offered $7.50 cash per share for Ranger Oil Ltd., a $1.6 billion deal. Shareholders can also take three Petrobank common shares for each Ranger share. Petrobank already controls about 5.4% of Ranger. Petrobank management says the deal will give Ranger a new senior management team, a new strategic direction and a payoff for shareholders. Watch out for plenty of oil patch action in the wake of the deal.
In Asia markets were mixed. Nasdaq’s rebound was well received in Hong Kong. The Hang Seng index closed up 173 points to reach 16,491. Japan was less impressed, the Nikkei closed down 239 points to 20,224.