TSE up again on thin volume

Volume this morning is very
light, with less than 45 million
shares changing hands. The down
volume is slightly ahead of the
up volume, but decliners are
beating advancers about 9:7.

On a sector basis the financials
are way up – more than 2.25%.
Followed closely by the utilities.
Newcourt is up about 11% on
the news that its shareholders
have approved the firm’s proposed
merger with CIT Group. TD Bank
is also doing well. It’s up almost
4%, as are the exchangeable shares
of Merrill Lynch. Some of the
smaller financials are doing well
too, including Crown Life,
E-L Financial and Fairfax
Financial.

The golds are the leading
losers, as they head back from
whence they came. With Barrick,
Kinross, Placer and Twin
Gold trading rather heavily
down. TCPL is down 30¢,
after announcing some disappointing
earnings. ATI Technology has
joined the selling once again too.

Montreal is in lockstep with
Toronto with the ME up 16 points.
The small caps however don’t have
the backing of many financials or
utilities and so the VSE is off
four points. Alberta is down
seven.

In New York, markets are
showing some tech-led strength.
Microsoft and Intel
were added to the Dow today, the
first two Nasdaq listings to join
the DJIA, reflecting the greater
importance of technology in the
U.S. economy. The Dow is up almost
30 points at midday, while the
Nasdaq has added 36 points. The
S&P is up three.