MARKET ACITIVITY/TRADING NOTES FOR DAY ENDING THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1998 (1)
Friday, March 27, 1998
Stocks lost ground on Wall Street amid concern that corporate earnings do, not justify record share prices. Bay Street stocks ended a three-day winning streak on fears of rising interest rates.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 25.91 points, or 0.3%, to 8846.89, slipping further from the 9000 mark after coming within 41 points of the landmark Wednesday.
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The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 1.12 points to 1100.8.
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The Nasdaq composite index, heavy with computer industry shares, rose 4.03 points, or 0.2%, to a record at 1828.54.
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About 603.3 million shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, down from about 669 million shares traded on Wednesday.
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The U.S. Commerce department said that profits of all companies fell 2.3% from the third quarter to the fourth, the first decline in more than a year.
S&P 500 companies are expected to report average earnings growth of just 1% in the first quarter, according to First Call Corp. The S&P 500 index has risen 13% this year.
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Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. (mwd/nyse) fell US$2 9/16 to US$73 1/8, even after its earnings beat estimates for the fiscal first quarter.
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A pullback in the bull market would hurt securities firms, analysts said.
The biggest U.S. securities firm said its net income rose to US$1.10 a diluted share, better than the US$1.06 a share forecast by analysts.
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Intel Corp. (intc/nasdaq) rose US$2 1/8 to US$78 3/16 after it said it would buy back 100 million shares.
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Canadian stocks fell, snapping a string of three straight records, as bank shares dropped on concern that interest rates may rise to ward off inflation.
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Declining telephone issues also weighed on the market. Phone companies led the market's advance in the previous two sessions on takeover speculation.
The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 composite index fell 9.91 points to 7569.31.
About 117 million shares changed hands, down from 124.6 million shares traded on Wednesday.
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Royal Bank of Canada (ry/tse) fell 85› to $84.80, Bank of Montreal (bmo/tse) slipped 55› to $77.75 and Toronto Dominion Bank (td/tse) dropped 85› to $62.25.
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Northern Telecom Ltd. (ntl/tse) lost $1.15 to $88.80 on concern U.S. rival Cisco Systems Inc. might move into one of its key markets, said Norman Duncan, a broker with C.M. Oliver and Co.
Cisco shares (CSCO/nasdaq) fell 3/16 to US$69 3/8. BCE Inc. (bce/tse), which owns 51% of Nortel , fell 85› to $58.55. International long-distance provider Teleglobe Inc. (tgo/tse) fell $1.25 to $62.75 and Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. (mbt/tse) fell 40› to $23.05.
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Barrick Gold Corp. (abx/tse) rose $2.05 to $29.95, Euro-Nevada Mining Corp. (en/tse) rose 40› to $23.35 and Placer Dome Inc. (pdg/tse) advanced $1.40 to $19.
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Franco-Nevada Mining Corp. (fn/tse) gained 75› to $32.25 after it bought royalty rights to a platinum producing mine in Montana.
"Gold stocks look like a good value relative to the rest of the market and there's always that concern about inflation creeping back," said Peter Jackson, a partner in PCJ Investment Counsel.
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Oil prices rose to a seven-week high on news that Norway might join 14 other countries in cutting production in a bid to drive up prices.
Petro-Canada (pca/tse) rose 45› to $25.45, Canadian Natural Resources (cnq/tse) gained 35› to $30.65 and Canadian Fracmaster Ltd. (cfc/tse) rose $1.25 to $21.85
Oil also was boosted on optimism the Organization of Petroleum-Exporting Countries will ratify the cuts at its meeting in Vienna on Monday.
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Other Canadian markets ended mixed.
The Montreal Exchange portfolio fell 14.44 points, or 0.4%, to 3840.41.
The Vancouver Stock Exchange rose 2.85 points, or 0.5%, to 617.71.
For a scorecard of trading activity on all Canadian Stock Exchanges, go to:
quote.yahoo.com .
REFERENCE: Canadian Market Summary
canoe2.canoe.ca
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Major international markets also were mixed.
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London: The FT-SE 100 index dropped 1% as investor appetite for leading stocks dried up. The benchmark index lost 62.2 points to 5905.6.
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Frankfurt: The Dax index closed lower, pressured by a weaker start to trade on Wall Street. It closed at 5039.76, down 56.86 points, or 1.1%.
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Tokyo: The Japanese stock market's key Nikkei average closed nearly 2% higher. The Nikkei average rose 322.28 points to 16,980.62.
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Hong Kong: Stocks ran out of steam to close lower as the market gave in to profit-taking. The Hang Seng index closed at 11,757.88, down 52.75 points or 0.5%.
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Sydney: Australian shares ended marginally lower. The all ordinaries index closed at 2781.1, down 0.5 points.
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