Toronto stocks fell Wednesday, weighed down by a drop in energy stocks, after a proposal to raise royalty rates, released by an Alberta review panel, spooked investors.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 65.62, or 0.47%, to 13.939.78
Six of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up.
The energy sank by 2.74% after the panel’s report suggested that the provincial government in Alberta should be charging another $2 billion in royalties to energy companies.
Petro-Canada fell $1.18, or 2%, to $57.80.
Light, sweet crude for October delivery closed 42¢ higher at US$81.93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The materials index gained 0.68%, while the gold sub-sector moved up 0.20%.
Gold futures gained $5.80 to close at US$729.50 an ounce.
Northern Orion Resources gained 4¢, or 0.67%, to $6.02.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.14 of a cent to US$98.50.
The S&P TSX Venture Exchange lost 7.11, or 0.26%, to 2,758.45.
In New York, markets moved up, despite the rise in the price of oil, as investors continued to applaud the Federal Reserve’s decision to drop interest rates by a half percentage point.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 76.17, or 0.55%, to 13,815.56, the Nasdaq composite index moved up 14.82, or 0.56%, to 2,666.48, and the S&P500 advanced 9.25, or 0.61%, to 1,529.03.
TSX drops on Alberta royalty rate proposal
U.S. markets move up on continued optimism surrounding the Fed’s interest rate decision
- By: Rudy Mezzetta
- September 19, 2007 September 19, 2007
- 16:29