MARKET ACTIVITY/TRADING NOTES FOR DAY ENDING DECEMBER 30, 1997 (1)
Market Activity
The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 composite index rose 41.25 points, or 0.6%, to 6691.21. About 58.1 million shares changed hands, compared with 59.5 million on Monday.
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Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM/TSE) rose 85› to $45.05 and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS/TSE) rose $1.15 to $66.75. Seagram Co. Ltd. (VO/TSE) jumped $1.30 to $45.90.
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"There's a lot of money floating around, but it's frightened money," said Sal Masionis, a trader at Brant Securities Ltd. "Investors are looking for the liquidity to get out if there's a correction."
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Bank and industrial-related stocks offer the most liquidity because of the large number of shares outstanding available for investors to trade. The financial services group, which accounts for 22% of the TSE 300, rose as concern of interest rates rising this week dissipated.
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Bank of Montreal (BMO/TSE) jumped 80› to $63.50 and Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD/TSE) climbed 25› to $53.90. Power Financial Corp. (PWF/TSE) rose 75› to $50.25. Mackenzie Financial Corp. (MKF/TSE) rose 50› to $18.50.
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Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Ltd. (POT/TSE) rose 55› to $118.35 and Linamar Corp. (LNR/TSE) jumped $3.55 to $81.
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Gold stocks recovered even though the price of bullion slid US79› to US$290.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold stocks account for 5.3% of the TSE 300 index. Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX/TSE) rose 45› to $27.30, Placer Dome Inc. (PDG/TSE) advanced 75› to $18.25 and TVX Gold Inc. (TVX/TSE) climbed 15› to $4.65.
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Oil stocks rose on expectations the American Petroleum Institute will report that U.S. refiners processed less crude oil last week. Dreco Energy Services Ltd. (Dey/TSE), a supplier of equipment to oil producers, jumped $2 to $46. Berkley Petroleum Corp. (BKP/TSE) rose 15› to $14.45.
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Other major Canadian markets closed higher. The Montreal Exchange portfolio rose 13.58 points, or 0.4%, to 3411.9. The Vancouver Stock Exchange index rose 5.65 points, or 0.9%, to 610.31.
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The major overseas markets closed mixed.
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London: Britain's leading share index ended mildly up. The FT-SE 100 index closed at 5132.3, up 19.9 points or 0.4%.
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Frankfurt: German shares drifted lower on the final trading day of 1997, amid modest profit-taking. The Dax index closed at 4249.69, up 52.32 points or 1.3%.
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Tokyo: Japanese stocks swept higher in thin pre-holiday trade. The 225-share Nikkei average closed at 15,258.74, up 483.52 points or 3.3%.
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Hong Kong: Hong Kong stocks closed sharply higher, lifted by bottom fishing in the property sector, a late rally in red chips and the prospect of Wall Street ending 1997 on a positive note. The Hang Seng index closed at
10,755.21, up 252.22 points or 2.4%.
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Sydney: The Australian share market ended higher, inspired by a U.S. rally and healthier looking Asian markets. The all ordinaries index closed at 2601.4, up 25.1 points or 1%.
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FINANCIAL POST - HOT STOCKS COLUMN
HURRICANE HYDROCARBONS LTD. (HHLa/TSE), up 30› to $10.75, on volume of 654,064 shares. Somewhere beneath the rolling hills of Kazakhstan
there is oil, and the folks at Hurricane Hydrocarbons know how to get it out profitably. The stock has climbed almost $2 in the past two weeks after analysts Barry Sahgal and Brian Miloski, of Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., issued a "buy" recommendation.
DENBURY RESOURCES INC. (DNR/TSE), up 95› to $27, on volume of 352,700
shares. Dallas-based Denbury today moves from the Toronto Stock Exchange 200 index to the TSE 300, replacing Jordan Petroleum Ltd. Denbury is involved in the acquisition, development and production of oil and gas in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
MDSI - MOBILE DATA SOLUTIONS INC. (MMD/TSE), up $3.95 to $26.95, on
volume of 2,900 shares. Based in Richmond, B.C., MDSI sells application software and services to clients in the general area of field service, maintenance and repair for the wireless data markets.
AMERICAN ECO CORP. (ECX/TSE), up $1.75 to $15, on volume of 5,250
shares. The Toronto-based construction and engineering services firm was awarded a $5.5-million contract to build pipe for Suncor Energy's oil sands project in Fort McMurray, Alta.
ST. LAURENT PAPERBOARD INC. (SPI/TSE), up 75› to $18.25, on volume of
121,600 shares. Montreal-based St. Laurent specializes in the manufacture of value-added paperboard products at plants in Quebec and Ontario.
AIM SAFETY CO. LTD. (AIM/TSE), up $1.70 to $16.50, on volume of 37,850
shares. The company is in the business of developing, manufacturing and
marketing gas-detection devices. In November it acquired B.C.-based Link Technologies.
WESTERN COPPER HOLDINGS INC. (WTC/TSE), up 55› to $5.55, on volume of
711,424 shares. The Vancouver-based company named Dale Cornman as chairman and chief executive and Thomas Patton as president and chief operating officer.
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OTHER COMPANIES IN THE NEWS
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ULTRA PETROLEUM (UP:VSE) closed up 5› yesterday at $6.05.ÿA Canadian junior energy company is embroiled in a heated - and aromatic - battle with a Texas retirement town over its handling of an oil well with a
high content of hydrogen sulphide. The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the state's oil and gas industry, is expected to decide early next month whether to fine Vancouver-based Ultra Petroleum Corp. for failing to comply with state regulations in its handling of the flammable, poisonous gas that smells like rotten eggs. The commission held safety hearings after the small community of Tool - about 100 kilometres southeast of Dallas - filed a protest.
COGNOS (CSN/TSE) Ottawa software company Cognos Inc. has been hit with a class action lawsuit claiming insiders at the company kept Cognos's stock high last summer by issuing misleading statements while selling shares of their own at a profit.ÿCognos's stock fell $1 after a press release about the lawsuit was issued yesterday, before closing at $31 in Toronto, down 50›, and (cognf/nasdaq) at US$21 5/8 in New York, down 3/16. The class action complaint, brought for all Cognos investors who bought shares between June 3 and Sept. 25, 1997, was filed two weeks ago in U.S. District Court in New York.
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cont'd part 2 |
