By James Langton
(April 19 – 13:00 ET) – Toronto’s market gyrations resumed this morning. The Toronto Stock Exchange opened up, then traded down all morning before turning up again at midday. The TSE 300 composite index is currently up about 34 points to 9103. Volume is average at about 83 million shares, split about 2:1 in favour of buyers. Advances are outpacing declines 11:9.
Most of the TSE’s groups are up today, led by conglomerates up 3%, with help from the old rocks and trees. The all-important industrial products group is up less than 1%, but the utilities are down about the same amount.
The leader is 724 Solutions Inc., up 14%, bouncing off earlier lows. Enthusiasm over the firm’s participation in the new Microsoft handheld PCs is also boosting the stock. Research in Motion, Certicom, Sierra Wireless and Descartes Systems are all up. Architel Systems is up 30% on news that the firm will be taken over by Nortel Networks for $385 million in stock. Nortel itself is down on the news.
The financials are slightly negative, thanks to a 3% in the investment fund companies. Insurers and the financial managers are down too. However the banks are mostly up. Merrill Lynch stock is down almost 3%. Investors Group has dropped almost 5%, AGF is down 2%, as is C.I., and Mackenzie is off 3% BCE is joining Nortel on the downside. DaimlerChrysler and Ballard Power are also leading on the losers board.
In New York stocks are up, too, in light trading. The Dow Jones industrial average has gained 12 points to 10779. The tech-heavy NASDAQ has added 50 points to 3844. The Standard & Poor’s is up five points to 1447.
The Canadian Venture Exchange has gained 21 points to 3671. Volume is on the light side at 25 million shares. Tech stocks are leading the way up 1.2%. Both the miners and energy stocks are up, too. Mega Cap Investments Inc is the hot stock, up 200% to 60¢ on 1.5 million shares.