TSE 300 sets new record high

Eight of the TSE’s sub-indices closed higher. Some were up substantially. Communications and media, conglomerates and financial services all climbed 2% or more, rising 517.62, 188.38 and 167.26 respectively. Oil and gas was the big loser today, dropping 2.53%, or 194.11 points.

Some of that loss was due to Petro Canada, the big decliner of the day in individual stocks. It saw $1.50 shaved from its shares for a final close of $27.25, a loss of 5%. No news on that except for the ongoing consolidation in the oil and gas sector. It was announced today that Husky is going to buy Renaissance Energy, a move that will create Canada’s fourth largest oil producer. It will also bring Husky, a company currently held privately by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing, back onto public markets.

As for other movers, Teleglobe Inc. stock was up 7%, or $2.25 a share, on news that BCE Inc. would offer the long-distance network service provider a financial lifeline.

Nortel Networks closed higher, up $1.40 to $99.40, with over 9 million shares trading hands. BCE closed higher, too, up 85¢ to 35.90. Volume for BCE was 6.4 million shares.

Even with the advance, declining issues outnumbered advancing issues 598 to 489 with 274 issues remaining unchanged. Trading volume was relatively light at about 125 million shares.

The CDNX remained relatively flat over the day. It closed down 0.35 points to finish at 3,471.80

The loonie finished the day against the U.S. dollar at US68.17¢.

South of the border, the Dow Jones industrial average and the NASDAQ composite also had strong days. The Dow picked up 108.54 points to push it to 10,557.84, while the NASDAQ picked up 12.29 points to bring it to 3,989.85. The S&P 500 was also up. It gained 21 points to close at 1,485.94.

Market watchers attributed the action to a few select stocks. Semiconductor issues and financials both did well. Rambus, Advanced Micro Devices, Intel and LSI Logic, all chipmakers, all were up at the end of the day.

The lack of any definable trend, say analysts, was due to the fact that many market players continue to sit on the sidelines, waiting for word from the Fed about interest rates.

So what will be Greenspan’s fancy this time round? New York Fed president, William McDonough, and the vice chairman of the Federal Open Market committee, said that he thought the economy was slowing. “The economy, according to data which came out in the last two weeks, looks as if it is beginning to slow,” he said to reporters following a banking conference in London.

Many of the players currently on the sidelines are sitting on bigger than usual cash reserves. If the Fed elects not raise rates, much of that money could be brought into play next week. Until then, the comments today by Fed officials will likely be the final word from them as they move into the quiet period in advance of next week’s meeting.