North American stock indices were flat on bull market’s anniversary

The blockbuster deal lifted shares in Canadian Natural by almost 10%, or $3.88, to $43.31 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It also helped drive up the energy sector to be the index’s leading gainer, climbing by 1.62%.

Although oil stocks were higher, the price of the commodity dropped to its lowest price since December, as the April crude contract fell by US$1 to US$49.28 a barrel after losing 5% on Wednesday.

Energy prices have been depressed in the past few weeks, with the situation exacerbated after a recent report by the U.S. Department of Energy showed that oil reserves grew by eight million barrels last week, far more than analysts anticipated.

The 14-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have made efforts to lift prices by agreeing to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day starting in January for six months. Other non-OPEC members including Russia and 10 other nations also agreed to scale back production by 558,000 barrels a day for the same period.

But John Stephenson, CEO of Stephenson & Co. Capital Management, says he foresees that crude prices will continue to slump until it reaches the US$45 to $50 range.

“The reality is we have some headwinds for oil and there is no obvious solution,” he says. “OPEC is doing what it can, Saudi Arabia is kind of eating it, as you will, or taking the lion’s share of the cuts because they want to ensure that this works.”

The lower oil price also hurt the Canadian dollar as the loonie fell for a ninth session in a row, dropping US0.08¢ to US74.03¢ — its lowest level this year.

Meanwhile, New York stock markets saw scant gains. The Dow Jones industrial average added 2.46 points to 20,858.19, the S&P 500 composite index rose by 1.89 points to 2,364.87, and the Nasdaq composite index was up by 1.26 points to 5,838.81.

Traders were awaiting the release of the U.S. government’s February jobs report on Friday. If the data meet or exceed expectations, it will be an indication that the economy is continuing to strengthen and will give the U.S. Federal Reserve Board even more reason to raise interest rates at its meeting next week.

Wall Street also celebrated the eight-year anniversary of the bull market on Thursday. It was on March 9, 2009 that stocks finally hit bottom during the global financial crisis after the S&P 500 composite index lost 55% in 17 months and gutted retirement and other investment accounts.

The next day, the S&P 500 perked up by 6.4% and it’s been racing higher ever since thanks to extraordinary stimulus from the Fed and a recovery in corporate profits.

In other commodities, the April gold contract fell by US$6.20 to US$1,203.20 an ounce, May copper contracts were down by US2¢ to US$2.58 a pound and April natural gas contracts were up by US7¢ at US$2.97 per mmBTU.