By James Langton
(July 13 – 13:00 ET) – Stocks continue their giddy bounce to higher highs this morning. The TSE 300 is up 108 points to 10,681 on average volume of 65 million shares. The tone in the market is mixed with volume about 3:2 in favour of buyers, although decliners outnumber advancers by a small margin. The TSE is hitting new all-time highs, but the upward momentum is very thin.
It’s a tech story again today at the TSE. Only six of the TSE’s 14 groups are up, but tech is up enough for everyone, about 3.6%. The other gains are modest, although there is strength in software and household goods. Against the tech rally, biotechs are slumping, as are utilities, transports and pipelines.
Nortel Networks is again leading the tech charge. It is up another 3.4% on 3.2 million shares, reaching new all-time highs in its stock. The firm announced a US$100 million long-term supply deal with CoreExpress today, and said it is in talks for other similar contracts.
Joining Nortel are the usual suspects, JDS Uniphase, Open Text, Celestica, Descartes Systems, Sierra Wireless, and Research in Motion. Among the non-techs, Renaissance Energy is a hot trader, up 3.4% on more than 4 million shares.
IMAX is up 14.5% on news that it is looking for a buyer or merger partner. Imax hired financial advisers or the search, saying it is looking to “aligning ourselves with a larger entity.”
Trimark Financial continues to power past its takeout price to $27.40 on 1.1 million shares.
Biotechs continue to surrender their speculative gains as investors swing back into tech. Biovail and QLT are down strongly. Synsorb Biotech is taking a beating, too, down 27%. Exfo is getting hit by profit-takers too. Ballard Power and Northstar Energy are weak. Laidlaw shares are taking a beating, too, down 21% to 63¢, after weak earnings yet again.
GEAC computer is down almost 10% after this morning’s announcements of its results and a deal to sell off one of its divisions for $160 million.
In business news, Thomson Corp is buying privately-held investor relations firm Carson Group as part of its move into electronic publishing. Terms were not disclosed.
Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. issued US$1.4 billion in a three-part debt offering this morning. Salomon Smith Barney was the lead manager on the deal.
In New York stocks are powering ahead too. The Dow is up just eight points to 10,791. The NASDAQ composite has gained 65 points to 4,164. The S&P 500 is up two ticks to 1495.
Strong earnings results from J.P. Morgan & Co., General Electric Co., Motorola Inc., and Ariba are driving optimism. The NASDAQ is particularly getting a boost from results out of Applied Micro Circuits Corp.
Only the CDNX is managing to remain dour in the midst of these rallies. It is down eight points to 3,374 on volume of 13.6 million shares.