Stocks on Bay Street traded deep in the red today -- down 756.75 points, to 8,537.34 -- after markets around the globe sold-off -- with persistent recession fears prompting nervous investors in Canada to dump equities and commodities.
Global stock indexes continued to slide Monday. Losses piled up in Asia, where Japan's Nikkei tumbled 6.4 percent to close at a 26-year low, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng plunged 13 percent.
In corporate news -- BCE Inc. says a lawsuit against the company and the investor group buying the telecommunications giant demanding payment of a suspended dividend is without merit and will be defended in court.
Nortel Networks fell 26 cents to $1.33 after the stock was downgraded by UBS to neutral from buy citing tougher sales fundamentals and worries about liquidity.
In other news -- Liberty Mines Inc. is looking for financing alternatives and curtailing development at its Redstone nickel mine southeast of Timmins in northern Ontario. The Edmonton-headquartered junior miner had said Sept. 29 it had negotiated a US$32-million issue of senior secured notes. It said Monday that it now is ''in discussions with various lenders for financing alternatives'' to that arrangement, and expects to offer details ''shortly.''
On the data front -- US new-home sales made a surprising jump last month after hitting a 17-year low in August, a government report said Monday. Sales of single-family homes increased by 2.7 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000, the Commerce Department said. Economists had forecast a September sales rate of 455,000.
The Canadian dollar, meanwhile, was trading down 1.17 cent to 77.41 cents US after losing 5.7 cents last week.
BAYSTREET
All of the TSX sub-groups traded lower today -- mining issues fell 12.18 percent; energy stocks dipped 11.07 percent and energy issues shed 9.22 percent.
COMEX gold for December delivery rose $12.60 to settle at $742.90 US an ounce.
Meanwhile, the TSX Venture Exchange edged 21.97 points lower to 808.99 while NASDAQ Canada stocks were off 23.50 points at 525.87.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks on Monday were slammed again at the close to end sharply lower, with a September rebound in new-home sales failing to stem ongoing fears of a worldwide recession.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down as much as 145 points early, before briefly touching positive territory. Lately though, it pulled back again and was down 34 points at 8345. The S&P 500 was lower by 7 points at 870, and the Nasdaq was losing 18 points at 1534.
Ten regional banks, including Key Corp., Fifth Third Bancorp and Capital One Financial, announced they would be getting their own infusion of capital from the Treasury Department as part of the federal government's $700 billion Wall Street bailout. Those three will receive a total of $9.5 billion. The announcements follow the original investment of $125 billion of taxpayer money in nine of the nation's largest banks earlier this month.
In corporate news -- Verizon posted a 31 percent jump in third-quarter profit on the strength of its wireless business. The firm earned $1.67 billion, or 59 cents a share, up from $1.27 billion, or 44 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, Verizon met analysts' estimates of 66 cents a share.
Also making headlines was conglomerate Loews Corp., which said it will buy $1.25 billion of preferred stock in insurer CNA Financial. Loews owns a 90 percent stake in CNA, which swung to a third-quarter loss because of a downturn in its investment portfolio and hurricane-related claims.
Treasury prices rose modestly, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.67 percent from 3.68 percent Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
U.S. light crude oil for December delivery fell 93 cents to settle at $63.22 US a barrel, after falling to a 17-month low in morning trading.
