It was fitting, perhaps, that Air Canada, was the most active stock on Bay Street Wednesday. Toronto stocks took flight briefly in afternoon trading before — like shares of the beleaguered airline — going into a tailspin and ending the day in negative territory. U.S. markets, meanwhile, soared to a two-week high.
At close, Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite was off 9.19 points or 0.11% at 8222.99. The index had been up as high as 56 points early in the day before seesawing back and forth throughout the rest of the session. The TSX Venture exchange closed 13.66 points or 0.92% higher at 1493.12.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 110.32 points or 1.11% to close at 10083.15, its fourth consecutive session in the black. The Nasdaq rose 36.12 points or 2.01% to 1831.37, while the S&P 500 gained 13.46 points or 1.24% to 1095. 17.
The Canadian dollar increased 0.22 of a cent to US76.75¢.
Bay Street was hit by conflicting forces of Air Canada and Nortel Networks. On Tuesday, creditors approved the airline’s new business plan, but a day later investors sold off the stock after the Toronto Stock Exchange said it was reviewing the company’s stock to determine if it meets listing requirements. The exchange said it is reviewing Air Canada’s common shares and class A nonvoting shares on an expedited basis, which generally takes about two weeks.
Air Canada was the TSX’s most active, finishing the day down 12¢ or 40.7% to 17.5¢ on volume of more than 22.7 million shares.
Nortel, meanwhile, was headed in the opposite direction; it gained 22¢ or almost 5% to $4.65 on volume of more than 21 million shares. Nortel , subject of several probes into its accounting procedures, is set to report first- and second-quarter earnings Thursday.
The two stocks together accounted for 19.3% of the TSX’s volume of 226.3 million shares. Another big mover was Bombardier, which lost 8¢ or 2.97% to $2.61 on volume of 17.4 million shares.
Elsewhere, on the TSX, financial stocks were down 0.88% while industrials were off 0.52% as a group. Energy stocks jumped 0.21% on news of another record high for oil prices, while gold shares were also up, 0.48%. Neither gold shares nor energy stocks could hold off the late-afternoon fall on the TSX.
In New York, oil futures surged higher still on worries about the prospects for Russian oil giant Yukos after a Moscow court issued a negative ruling in its tax case. Crude prices declined briefly on reports that a radical Shiite cleric in Iraq had accepted a peace plan, but then reached for a new record high, trading up 65¢ at US$47.40.
But investors shrugged off the jump in crude prices. Wednesday’s Dow Jones close was the first time the benchmark index has ended above 10,000 in two weeks. In the last four sessions, the Dow has risen 268 points, or 2.7%.
Investors may also get the chance Thursday to begin trading in the stock of Google. Late Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission gave the Internet search engine company the green light for its initial public offering, making it possible for the shares to begin trading as early as Thursday.
Google and its bankers have yet to put the final price on the IPO. That price typically comes after the SEC OK’s the offering.
Earlier Wednesday, Google cut the range of its IPO price to US$85-US$95 per share from US$108-US$135 per share and the number of shares that will be sold from 25.7 million to 19.6 million. The cuts mean Google could raise about US$1.8 billion in the sale, down from what could have been more than US$3 billion.
Market close: TSX in tailspin; Dow soars
- By: James Walker
- August 18, 2004 August 18, 2004
- 16:10