Stock market outlook firmer; Canadian dollar near 72 cents US
Canadian Press
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
TORONTO (CP) - Wall Street stock index futures pointed to a positive opening and overseas markets generally showed gains Wednesday. The Canadian dollar remained near 72 cents US, while investors assessed the latest bad news from Air Canada.
The country's dominant airline's operating loss more than doubled in the first quarter to $354 million - $4 million a day - and it is grounding 40 planes while cutting service to several cities outside Canada.
The loonie was trading at 71.99 cents US, off 0.10 cent from Tuesday's 5½-year closing high.
European stock markets were higher, with a 1.4 per cent gain in Paris although French rail and subway traffic was disrupted for a second day as strikes continued against proposed reforms of the state pension plan.
Frankfurt was up 1.6 per cent. London's FT-SE showed a more modest gain early in the afternoon, up 16.3 points at 4,016.2.
Tokyo's Nikkei average closed up 54.65 points to 8,244.91, as the market awaited details on government plans to prop up stock prices.
The U.S. dollar weakened against the yen, trading at 116.55, down 0.60 yen, after U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said the Bush administration has no "conscious" intention to weaken the currency to help American exporters.
On Canada's stock market Tuesday, the S&P/TSX composite index slipped 14.59 points to 6,702.91.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average retreated 47.48 points to 8,679.25. The Nasdaq composite edged down 1.72 points to 1,539.68; the S&P 500 index was off 2.81 at 942.3.
"It should be a minor pullback," said Steven Goldman, chief market strategist at Weeden & Co. in Greenwich, Conn., noting a more upbeat tone on Wall Street.
"You have had this surge in the market and this surge is very different than the other rallies (during the three-year bear market). It is very broad-based; every stock is participating," Goldman added.
"This one has all the earmarks of being a broader-based, sustainable rally, and with that declines tend to be somewhat shallow."
© Copyright 2003 The Canadian Press
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