Canadian stocks edged up a fraction Friday, on the last day of trading of the year, to end 2010 with a 15% gain.
The S&P/TSX composite index inched up 8.81 points to close the day, week, month and year at 13,443.22
The Canadian dollar was up 0.28 of a cent to $1.0027 U.S.
Among the movers were shares of Baffinland Iron Mines Corp., up 3.6%, after Indian steelmaker ArcelorMittal said it had increased its bid for Baffinland to $1.40 a share. At the close, Baffinland’s stock was trading at $1.43, and is up 177% for the year.
Other big winners in 2010 included Western Coal Corp., which rose 279% to $12.33, Nevsun Resources Ltd., up 196% to $7.42 and Fronteer Gold Inc., which gained 182% to $11.61.
Among laggards in 2010, Jaguar Mining Inc. fell 40% to $7.11, PetroBakken Energy Ltd. fell 33% to $21.77 and Aecon Group Inc. fell 31% to $10.26.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange strengthened 26.16 points to 2,287.85, while the Nasdaq Canada index picked up 0.83 points to 752.06.
In Toronto, nine of the 14 subgroups were negative to end the day. Telecoms sank 0.6%, while consumer discretionaries and utilities shed 0.5% each.
Materials and gold were co-leaders among the gainers, each picking up 0.7%, while metals and mining increased 0.4%.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks barely moved Friday, but all three indexes were ready to end 2010 with solid gains for the year as the final hour began.
The Dow Jones Industrials tacked on 7.80 points to close at 11,577.50
The S&P 500 demurred a mere 0.24 points to 1,257.64. The Nasdaq Composite Index moved down 10.11 points to 2,654.03
Those paltry moves make for a lackluster end to a roller-coaster year.
The Dow is up about 11%, the S&P 500 has climbed 13%, and the Nasdaq has soared 18% so far this year. But those gains didn't come without major hiccups.
Stocks had a strong start to 2010, but concerns about Europe's sovereign debt crisis weighed on the market. A slow economic recovery at home -- particularly in the U.S. job and housing markets -- also pressured stocks.
The May 6 "Flash Crash," when the Dow sank nearly 1,000 points in a matter of minutes, spooked investors and kept their stomachs churning for several months.
But in late August, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke assured investors that the central bank would do whatever it took to keep the economy from slipping back into a recession. That promise followed by the Fed's decision to pump $600 billion U.S. into the economy restored some confidence, and since then stocks have been on the rise.
Trading has been extremely thin during the year-end holiday season, and stocks aren't expected to make much of a move -- upward or downward -- on the last day.
Shares of Borders Group fell 22.1% in afternoon trading after the cash-strapped bookseller said it is taking steps to delay payments to vendors as it works to refinance its debt.
Early Friday, CVS Caremark Corp. announced its plans to acquire Universal American Corp.'s Medicare Part D prescription drug business for $1.25 billion U.S. CVS stock fell 0.6% in afternoon trading, while Universal American shares surged 41%.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury inched up, lowering the yield to 3.30% from Thursday’s 3.37%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil for February delivery regained $1.41 to $91.25 U.S. a barrel
Gold futures for February delivery rose $15.50 to settle at $1,421.40 U.S. an ounce.
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