By Stewart Lewis
(June 8 – 17:30 ET) – Stock markets in North America were split today with Canadian markets finishing in positive terrritory and American markets dropping. In the U.S., stocks dropped with news of a high-level management shake-out at Procter & Gamble. It was also a tough day for financial issues.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 142.75 points to 10670.11. The NASDAQ composite index slipped 13.68 to 3825.58.
The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 composite index edged up 94.74 to 9652.39. It was a good day for the communication and media sector gaining by 2.1%. Nortel rose 75¢ to $87.10 and BCE added 85¢ to $37.05.
Fairfax Financial had another active day, adding $12.75 to $185.75. Certicom, on the other hand, experienced another drop, down $45.50 to $75.
The CDNX edged up, too. It added 14.98 to 3453.01. Declining issues outnumberd advancers 288 to 275.
The Canadian dollar closed higher today after a roller-coaster day. It finished the day at US67.73¢, up from US67.61¢ yesterday.