By Jeff Sanford

(August 2 – 16:30 ET) – The TSE 300 climbed just 15.62 points higher today to close at 103,68.48. Volume was 141 million shares. Of individual issues, 548 were up and 477 were down, 291 remained unchanged. Investors must be waiting for Friday U.S. and Canadian employment numbers.

Among the sub-indices, nothing moved more than a 1% except for oil, metals and paper. Oil was up 2.69%, while metal issues were up 1.72% and paper 1.90%.

The industrial product sub-index was down a slight 0.36%. Overall seven of the indices finished the day up and five finished down.

Battery Technologies was the most heavily traded issue again today, with over 6 million shares trading hands. It finished up another 17% today. Still no news from the company on why the stock is so popular.

CAE Inc was the second most heavily traded issue over the course of the day. News that first quarter earnings were lower than analyst’s expectations knocked 40¢ from the stock. It closed at $17.35.

Nortel dipped again today even though the networking giant announced it is shedding some of its support services. It handed over its computer support division to Commuter Sciences Corp., for $3 billion. Nortel closed at $106.65, down 35¢.

Petro Canada was up 70¢ to $29.75 as traders seemed to be shifting slowly out of techs into resources. Talisman Energy was also up, gaining $2 to finish at $47.10.

The CDNX put on 14.51 points to finish up at 3,310.61.

The loonie was up significantly today with the help of Australian interest rates. Because the Canadian dollar and the Australian dollar are considered sister currencies in the eyes of international currency traders, the announcement that the Reserve Bank of Australia had hiked rates 25 basis points helped out the Canadian buck. Traders liked the fact that Australia demonstrated it can act independently of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

That new home sales in the U.S. dropped slightly — lending credence to the ‘soft landing’ scenario — also helped the loonie. It closed at US67.55¢, up from US67.29 yesterday.

In New York. oils also helped the Dow to a strong finish. The index ended up 80.58 points at 10,687.53 points. The Nasdaq composite, up through the morning, began taking on water in the afternoon and ended up down 27.06 points at 3,658.46. Little conviction in techs in front of the Reserve Broad meeting was to blame.

The S&P 500 finished the day pretty well flat, rising less than a point to close at 1,438.70.