Conflicting economic indicators are leaving investors with a foggy outlook. It seems to have them wondering whether they should be betting up or down.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 33 points to 10577. The NASDAQ composite index slipped 17 points to 2029 and the S&P 500 edged down four points to 1211. On a positive note, American markets were heading up when the bell rang – after opening quite low.
The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 composite index close its gap. After opening off by about 30 points, it carved out a six-point gain by the end of the day to close up at 7648.
Volume was thin, though, only 101 million shares traded. Market trend was marginally positive with 510 issues closing up and 462 declining.
News that OPEC may cut oil supplies helped the oil sector reach a 2.41% gain. The consumer products sector also made gains today, climbing 1.8%. A 5% gain in the price of Biovail helped. It closed at $67.20.
On the downside, metals and minerals led with a 1.6% decrease. Overall, eight sectors were up on the day and six were down.
Nortel dropped 27¢ today to close at $11.63 after yesterdayÕs earnings announcement. Itemus was also sold heavily after speculation surfaced that it may lose its TSE listing. It closed down 1.5¢ at 2.5¢.
Potash Corp blamed lower fertilizer prices for its revised earnings estimate it released yesterday. It expects to make only 85¢ a share this quarter, not a dollar as it previously forecast. ItÕs stock was off $3.33 today at $92.67.
HudsonÕs Bay also got hit by heavy selling pressure after it announced expectations that its earnings will be between eight and 12 cents lower than previously forecast. It closed down $1.36 today at $17.85.
The CDNX fell 12 points today to close at 3083. That was on volume of 27 million shares. Market trend was almost even, though, with 185 issues declining and 192 advancing.
The Canadian dollar finished the day relatively unchanged today at US64.84¢, a slight drop of 0.06% from yesterdayÕs close.