By James Langton
(March 22 – 13:00 ET) – The rate game has gone according to Hoyle. The Bank of Canada dutifully following the U.S. Federal Reserve Board this morning with a 25 basis point hike. In response stocks in Toronto are rallying. At midday the TSE 300 is up 80 points to 9,732. However, volume remains rather light at just 84.6 million shares. The up volume is edging the down 8:7, and the split between advancers and decliners is virtually
dead even.
Surprisingly financials are leading the index climb. The TSE financial group is up almost 3%, led by Power Financial and the banks. The banks quickly raised interest rates this morning after the Bank of Canada’s move. TD and CIBC are leading the gains in the group. The insurers are also strong in anticipation of Sun Life’s debut tomorrow. Both Fairfax Financial and E-L Financial are up notably too.
Strength is also evident in the consumer products, industrials and utilities. Software stocks are recovering, as are the biotechs. Stocks such as Certicom, Research in Motion and JDS Uniphase are hopping today. Bombardier is strong again today. Ballard Power,
however, is weaker. The index units, the i60s, are trading actively, up 0.9% on 2.9 million units.
The downside is being led by the integrated miners and golds. Alcan is leading the metals group down, off more than 4%. Weyerhaeuser is down as are some techs, including Sierra Wireless and Infowave Software. Rogers Communications is also down 2.5%.
The CDNX is struggling once again in the face of a big cap rally. The index is down 15 points to 4,389. Volume is on the light side at 47.4 million shares. Technology is keeping the CDNX down, off 1.5%, but it is seeing gains in the oils and miners. Online grocer Peachtree Network has had a strong debut, up 136% from $1 to $2.36 on volume of 2.7 million shares.
In New York the tech-friendly divergence has returned. the Nasdaq is up 96 points to 4,808. The Dow is slipping, down 106 points to 10,809. The S&P has dropped 4.5 points to 1489.4.