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To: Serge Collins who wrote (8167)	12/1/1998 7:57:00 PM
From: Chris Stovin	Respond to of 18016

From CANOE this evening... Tuesday, December 1, 1998 Toronto exchange unveils members of new stock index TORONTO, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's new index of stocks, unveiled on Tuesday, contains 60 of Canada's largest and most successful companies, but no real surprises. The index, expected to be recognized as the benchmark large capitalization marker for the country's largest stock market, contains the bluest of blue chip companies in Canada from telecommunications giants BCE Inc. and Northern Telecom Ltd. to retailer Hudson's Bay Co. and technology firm Mitel Corp. . It also mirrors closely the broader-based Toronto Stock Exchange 300 Composite Index, still considered the benchmark for all trading in Canada. All members of the blue-chip TSE 35 index are included in the new grouping. The TSE 35, TSE 100 and TSE 200 indexes will continue to exist but may be phased out at a later date. Joining BCE and Nortel in the index's top five companies, based on their related weightings on the TSE 300, are Royal Bank of Canada , Bank of Montreal and Bank of Nova Scotia . The index, to be called S&P/TSE 60, was created by U.S.-based Standard & Poor's Financial Information Services for the TSE, and is closely modeled on the widely watched S&P 500 index used in the United States. The criteria used to determine which stocks were included in the index were size, liquidity, and sector leadership, said Robert Shakotko, senior vice-president, Index Services at Standard & Poor's. The index has 11 sectors that cover all of the TSE 300's 14 subindexes. The sectors are basic materials, capital goods, communications services, consumer cyclical, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care, technology, transportation, and utilities. Weightings for the 11 sectors were not provided. The S&P/TSE 60 will begin calculation on December 31, and will run concurrently with existing indexes during a transition period, Richard Carleton, vice-president of index and market data services at the Toronto Stock Exchange, said in a press release. The Toronto Stock Exchange, which is losing dominance in Canada as more companies list on U.S. markets, is hoping the large capitalization index will bring it a new level of respectability. Its image has been tarnished in recent years by a number of scandals. Several market participants said the new index will add credibility to the exchange. "I think the fact that the S&P has attached its name to the TSE index is going to raise credibility and be a sign of further integrity," said Fred Ketchen, director of equity trading at ScotiaMcLeod, in Toronto. "S&P does have some high fallutin' requirements in order to be in an index. It's my sense some of the problems that the TSE has had in recent years was putting stuff in an index that ought not to be there." ($1=$1.53 Canadian)

To: Serge Collins who wrote (8167)	12/1/1998 8:02:00 PM
From: Chris Stovin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18016

Another article from CANOE this evening which mentions Quebec election and new S&P/TSE 60. December 1, 1998 Toronto Stock Market Relieved investors send Toronto stocks higher TORONTO, Dec. 1 (Reuters) - Investors heaved a sigh of relief that sent Toronto's stock market much higher on Tuesday, after Monday's Quebec election failed to give the separatist Parti Quebecois party as strong a majority as had been feared. The Toronto Stock Exchange's main 300 Composite Index climbed 113.27 points or 1.8 percent to close at 6457.14. Despite the benchmark index's gains, declining issues beat out advancing ones 543 to 479 on the broader market. Another 262 stocks closed steady. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 16.99 points to 9133.54. Toronto opened weaker, then flipped into positive turf by midday. "It was a bullish reversal," said Katherine Beattie, analyst at Standard and Poor's MMS International. "It wasn't as bad as feared....The PQ didn't win by a huge margin and we had a relief rally." The incumbent PQ won a majority, with 75 seats in the 125-seat provincial legislature, to 48 for the opposition Liberals. But the Liberals won the popular vote by one percentage point. Fred Ketchen, ScotiaMcLeod's director of equity trading, attributed some of the gains to the surprise Quebec election numbers. "I think our market has underperformed (New York). There is reasonable value out here and now I think some of the recognition is starting to show up now." Beattie added that the stock exchange was set to reveal a new index late on Tuesday, the S&P/TSE 60 Index, which meant fund managers were snapping up the relevant issues ahead of the announcement. "The TSE 60 will be unveiled tonight and the stocks in that got a boost." All 14 sub-groups but one, oil and gas, tracked upward. The oil sector slipped as producers have failed to take fresh action to relieve a severe glut. Gains were led by the TSE 300's heavily weighted financial services sector, which rose 3.5 percent. The sector suffered recent losses. In the bank group, Royal Bank of Canada was up C$2.50 to C$78 and Toronto-Dominion Bank rose C$2.40 to C$53.75. Financial services was followed by 2-percent jumps in transportation, media and consumer products. Bid.Com International Inc. topped the most actives group again, as it has for most days in the past two weeks. Stock in the online auctioneer slipped C$0.24 to C$4.23 following a scorching rally recently. Corel shares rose C$0.03 to C$3.98 after announcing it settled a lawsuit with former Hollywood movie queen Hedy Lamarr. The suit alleged the software maker had misappropriated her image by slapping a software-created likeness on a product's packaging. Corel did not disclose the terms. ($1=$1.53 Canadian)