After a back and forth day, Toronto's main stock index closed down a few points today as financial stocks pulled things down aided by indecisive U.S. data and conservative remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The S&P/TSX Composite slid into the red; down 5.57 points, or .05%, to 12,363.08.
The price for oil for November delivery is still moving up; gaining 2.09% to $81.64.
Gold for December delivery is up again; gaining $10.40 to $1.318.20.
The Canadian Dollar is gaining on the US Dollar today; .00743 of a cent to .979765 U.S. cents.
AT THE CLOSE --
Canadian's Sentiment -- Consumer confidence in Canada has dropped "significantly" in the past three months, reflecting concerns about the pace of the global economic recovery, a survey released by Royal Bank of Canada showed on Friday.
Research in Motion put together a solid day to continue its climb off the bottom over the last month; closing up 2.20%.
Canada’s currency rose to the highest level in nearly two months against the USD, advancing for a fifth week, as crude oil and other commodities rallied as investors seem to be getting an appetite for riskier assets.
Longer-term Canadian government bonds fell, pushing the yield on benchmark 10-year notes up 4 basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 2.8%. The price of the 3.5% security due in June 2020 dropped $.30 to $105.97.
AFTERNOON NEWS --
BHP Billiton said today it expected to lodge a motion within the next few days to challenge a lawsuit filed by Potash Corp to battle BHP's $39 billion hostile takeover bid. BHP said its lawyers were finalizing details of the dismissal motion which could be filed as early as Friday. Shares of POT are down .09% this afternoon.
Centerra Gold Inc. announced today that unionized employees at its key mine in central Asia have gone on strike, temporarily halting production at the site. Centerra said it believes the work stoppage at its Kumtor mine in the Kyrgyz Republic is illegal since the workers have a contract through the end of the year. Shares of T.CG are down .90% this afternoon.
MORNING NEWS --
Canadian energy companies trading in Toronto also posted strong gains, with the TSX capped energy index rising 1.3% as oil prices advanced. Suncor Energy Inc. gaining 1.1%.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Canada’s second-largest energy company by market value, climbed 1.6% as crude oil rallied from a seven-week high.
Questerre Energy Corp., which is developing shale-gas deposits in Quebec, plunged 27% after announcing project delays.
Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s largest gold producer, increased 1% as the metal climbed on a weaker U.S. dollar.
More RIM News -- Indian security agencies are not able to access Research in Motion's BlackBerry messenger services despite being granted access, the latest twist in a months-long saga that stems from India's concern over security issues. BlackBerry's Canadian maker RIM has said it does not have a key to offer to Indian security agencies that would help decode emails, India's telecoms ministry said in an internal note, a copy of which was seen by Reuters. Shares of RIM are up .78% to $50.49 this morning.
ON BAYSTREET
Seven of the TSX Subgroups closed in the green today. Base metals led the way; up 1.53%, followed by metals and mining; up 1.47%, while health care added 1.40%
On the downside -- Consumer staples were down 1.01% and telecom ended down .089% and financials finished in the red by .68%.
The TSX Venture Exchange closed up by 36.53 points to 1744.79, while the Nasdaq Canada index closed in the green as well; up 14.00 points to 635.81.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks finished higher on Friday, but still finished lower overall for the week, putting an end to a four-week winning streak. New data reports spurred concerns about the economy. Even with mixed reports, including a slightly lower manufacturing report couldn't stop the market the wavered throughout the day from closing green the market on the first trading of the fourth quarter.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 41.63 points, or .39%, to 10,829.68. The S&P 500 finished up 5.04 points, or 0.44%, to 1,146.24. The NASDAQ closed green as well; up 2.13 points, or 0.04%, to 2,370.75.
The US Dollar is down against the euro by .0153 and losing ground against the yen as well; down .1700.
Oil futures for November delivery are up 2.09% to $81.64.
The 10-year bond yield is up .0900 to 2.5260%.
FROM THE GOVERNMENT -- A slew of data has been released this morning.
Personal income for August was up .5%.
Consumer Spending for August was up .4%.
Construction Spending was right in line with estimates.
September ISM manufacturing data registered a 54.4 (against 54.8 estimated) which is slightly lower than the 56.3 reported in August.
Consumer sentiment data -- U.S. consumer sentiment fell slightly in September according to the final reading of the Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment data released Friday.
The index came in at 68.2 -- after September's inital figure of 66.6 -- above median expectations of 67.0, but less than August's final reading of 68.9.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President Bill Dudley gave a speech this morning saying the outlook for U.S. job growth and inflation is ''unacceptable'' and that the central bank has options to add stimulus without significant drawbacks.
AT THE CLOSE --
IPO Runner -- Shares of Internet service firm China Cache International Holdings skyrocketed in their U.S.market debut Friday. Shares of the CCIH roared up 95.32% to $27.15 in its debut.
Schlumberger Ltd. (up 1.33%) and Occidental Petroleum Corp. (up 3.15%) were winners as oil topped $81 barrel, leading energy stocks to the biggest gain among 10 groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
Citigroup Inc. (up 4.60%) and JP Morgan (up 1.97%) rallied today as financial companies rebounded from back to back down days.
Accenture rose 4.45% after forecasting sales that may top estimates.
Breaking News -- The buyout firm TPG is launching into the Hollywood business by taking a 35% stake in Creative Artists Agency, the large talent agency.
Everyone hates the fine print -- Bank of America officially announced that they would routinely sign foreclosure documents without reading them.
Flash Crash -- A large investor using automated trading software to sell futures contracts sparked the brief,but now infamous, stock market "flash crash" on May 6, according to a report by federal regulators released Friday. In the 104-page report, staff members at Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission said a trader used a trading algorithm to sell orders large amount of E-Minis at one time. The investor was unnamed.
See You in Court -- Microsoft Corp. has filed patent-infringement lawsuits with the International Trade Commission and in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against Motorola Inc., targeting Motorola mobile phones based on Google Inc.’s Android software.
IN EARLY AFTERNOON TRADING --
Ford U.S. Sept. sales jump 46.3% to 160,873 units sending shares of F higher; up 1.39% to $12.39.
Imax Corp. (IMAX) shares are moving up quickly after announced it has expanded its joint venture agreement with Regal Entertainment Group. Shares of IMAX are up 6.64% and shares of RGC are up .69% to $13.21.
Share of HTZ are down on as yesterday its offer to buy its rival, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. was rejected by shareholders. Shares are down 3.31% more today after significant losses yesterday.
Newly merged UAL shares are off their highs for the day, but still up 4.27% this afternoon.
AT THE OPEN --
BP News -- Robert Dudley officially steps in as BP CEO today. The Company also announced today that it has put up seven of its Gulf of Mexico oil fields as collateral for the $20 billion escrow fund that it's building to pay oil spill claimants.
Leo Apotheker was named as new CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Mr. Apotheker is the former CEO of SAP Business Objects.
The U.S. Government estimates that it will bring in $2.25 billion in proceeds from its sales of Citigroup.
Merger Complete -- The $3.2 billion merger of United Airlines parent UAL Corp. and Continental Airlines Inc. closed Friday, bringing the two big carriers together in a company called United Continental Holdings Inc.
Stocks to Watch -- Accenture (ACN) said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings climbed to $.66 per share from $.39 share a year ago. Analysts had expected $.63 per share. Shares are up 5.20% to $44.70.
Gymboree Corp. (GYMB) is testing the waters for interest in a potential sale of the company to private-equity groups. Shares are up 19.60% to $49.68.
MetLife Inc. (MET) said it could see as much as a $.20 per share reduction to its 2011 earnings if the rate on the 10-year Treasury note remains at 2.5% through next year. Shares are up 1.66% to $39.09.
Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN) received downgrades today. Shares are down 3.03% and .41% respectively.
Across the Globe -- In one of the largest Chinese oil acquisitions to date, Spain's Repsol SA announced the sale of 40% of its Brazilian assets to China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec Group, for $7.1 billion. The joint venture, valued at $17.8 billion overall, guarantees Repsol key funding to explore vast and coveted offshore oil fields in South America's biggest economy.
BMW is recalling more than 350,000 cars due to braking problems.
On The Lighter Side -- In a special version of Cherrios , called ''Ochocinco’s'' featuring the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver, had a telephone number error and is now seeing the boxes pulled off the shelves. The special packaging was designed to raise money for charity, but instead of the number to call being listed as ''1-888,'' it was listed as ''1-800,'' which, unfortunately, is a porn line phone number. This same type of error happened in the past in Washington as reporters who were scheduled to attend a conference call with Hillary Clinton were misdirected in a similar fashion.
