by James Langton
(November 1 – 13:00 ET) – The markets appear to be sticking to the script so far today, as an expected moderate decline led by the golds is being tempered by a few strong issues. The TSE 300 is off 17 points and drifting lightly lower.
Volume has been very light through the morning, with just over 39 million shares changing hands. Selling volume is ahead of the buying by 3:2, although decliners are outpacing advancers at almost a 5:3 rate.
Gold stocks are leading the way down, off more than 3.5% through the morning, with big names such as Barrick and Placer leading the retreat. The price of gold, down on the open this morning, has continued to fall all day – bulldozing its way through technical and psychological support levels. The bid is currently about US$288.40, as the heavy hittters on the world’s metals markets battle with the metal’s price.
Apart from golds, media stocks are weak, as are the energy plays. Rogers, Shaw, Seagram and Thomson have all taken a beating. Among the financials, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Manulife are both trading actively lower. Fairfax and Merrill Lynch are fighting on behalf of the bulls, both are up well at midday.
On the upside, the usual suspects are holding back the sellers. Utilities and real estate are the strongest sectors, but it is tech giants Nortel, BCE and JDS Uniphase that are all trading up strongly in the face of broader weakness.
Montreal is following the trade on the TSE and is down about 24 points so far. The VSE is down two points and Alberta is up almost 20 points due to ongoing strength in Wi-Lan.
The New York market is rather quiet. The Dow is off 14 points despite a rally in tech stocks, and the Nasdaq is up 16 points. The S&P is more or less flat between the industrials and techs.