MARKET WRAP / Closing Commentary Of 12/18/98
Toronto stocks closed mixed on Thursday
Toronto's stock market closed mixed on Thursday, pulled in conflicting
directions as key banks rose but gold and oil issues retreated from
heights achieved a day earlier.
Investors largely ignored a second wave of attacks on oil-rich Iraq by
the United States and Britain.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's key 300 Composite Index ticked 7.6 points
higher to 6291.45. However, declining issues outpaced advances 539 to
460, creating mixed results. Another 294 stocks ended steady. Turnover
was higher than usual, spiking at 141 million shares worth C$2.1
billion.
Canada's largest stock market vastly underperformed the Dow Jones
Industrial Average in New York, which gained 85.22 points, or nearly 1
percent, to 8875.82.
''Toronto lagged because of the commodity stocks, which all sold
off,'' said David Jarvis, liability trader at Levesque Beaubien
Geoffrion.
Analysts say investors now believe the U.S. and British bombings of
Iraq, which started late Wednesday, will have little impact on the
world economy, unlike the Gulf War in 1991.
"It doesn't look like we've got the same thing at all," said Pat
Blanford, senior vice-president at Merrill Lynch Canada. "If people
were bidding up (oil and gas stocks) on Wednesday in anticipation of
some bigger conflict, they didn't see it (Thursday)."
The 14 subindexes comprising the TSE 300 were equally split between
gainers and losers. The transportation/environment rose 2.2% as
Canadian National Railway Co. rose $2.10 to $81.
The industrial products sector gained 1.1% as Nortel Networks added
$2.60 to $73.50 on 1.1 million shares traded.
The financial services sector rose 1.0%. The hefty Canadian bank
stocks were boosted by their blue-chip counterparts in the south,
which chugged higher following a bullish earnings outlook by Chase
Manhattan Corp. (NYSE:CMB). America's third-largest bank said it may
post record profits in the fourth quarter, bucking a slump in the
country's financial services industry.
''The U.S. banking index was stronger and, as you know, we follow
them,'' Jarvis added.
A big winner on Bay Street included Merrill Lynch Canada, up $4.50 at
$104.50. Besides Merrill Lynch, other stocks in the heavily weighted
financial services sector performed well. CIBC rose $1.10 to $35.70,
Scotiabank added 45 cents to $34.40 and TD rose 45 cents to $49.45.
Other winning groups were consumer products 0.9%, comunications/media
0.7%, merchandising 0.6% and paper/forest products 0.1%.
Gold and precious minerals fell 3.0% while oil and gas fell 2.5%,
undermined by slipping commodity prices. They had gained more than
3.5 percent each on Wednesday.
The February bullion price fell $3.60 to $292.90 an ounce on Comex.
Among the miners, giant Barrick Gold Corp. slipped $1.05 to $30.50,
Franco Nevada Mining Corp. gave up $0.80 TO $29.50 and Placer Dome
Inc. dipped $0.75 to $18.50.
With the price of oil in retreat, Canadian oil stocks that soared when
the United States first took aim at Iraq simply sputtered like duds
Thursday. The price of oil on New York's Mercantile Exchange dropped
$1.35 US to settle at $11.03.
Among the sub-components of the oil & gas composite index , the
integrated oils fell 204 points or 2.7% to 7247.63. The oil and
producers fell 109.21 points or 2.6% to 4070.92 and the oil & gas
services edged upward 4.73 points or 0.4% to 1347.94.
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Oil & Gas Charts - TSE 300
Oil & Gas Composite
chart.canada-stockwatch.com
Integrated Oil's
chart.canada-stockwatch.com
Oil & Gas Producers
chart.canada-stockwatch.com
Oil & Gas Srvices
chart.canada-stockwatch.com
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Most active oil's included:
VOLUME NAME LAST CHANGE
2906374 CDN HUNTER WI 9.75 +0.05
1167700 PETRO-CANADA 16.85 -0.60
1093312 GULF CANADA 4.20 -0.15
681100 COMPTON PETE 1.70 0
604654 RENAISSANCE 18.50 +0.05
566830 CDN OCCIDENTAL 18.00 -0.60
503597 BIG BEAR EXPLO 0.32 -0.01
437500 SNOW LEOPARD 0.05 -0.01
432450 REMINGTON ENER 5.70 -0.10
370968 NORTHROCK RES 11.50 0
366080 RANGER OIL LTD 6.95 -0.15
Among the top 50 net gainers were Veritas DGC $1.40 to $20.40,
Barrington Petroleum $0.75 to $3.75 and Canada Southern Petroleum
$0.75 to $7.00.
On the downside, Pioneer Natural Resources fell $1.45 to $13.30,
Alberta Energy $1.25 to $33.25, Chieftain International $1.25 to
$24.00, Suncor Energy $1.00 to $46.00, Talisman Energy $1.00 to
$27.00, Canadian Natural Resources $0.95 to $22.50, Imperial Oil
$0.85 to $26.10, Cabre Exploration $0.65 to $11.10, Crestar Energy
$0.60 to $13.15, Canadian Occidental Petroleum $o.60 to $18.00 and
Petro-Canada $0.60 to $16.85.
Percentage leaders included Barrington Petroleum, AltaQuest Energy,
Canada Southern Petroleum, Oceelot Energy B, Upton Resources, Tesco,
Veritas DGC, Gulfstream Resources, CE Franklin, Jet Energy and Rider
Resources.
On the downside, percentage losers included request Seismic, Cirque
Energy, Pioneer Natural Resources, Kookaburra Resources, Trican Well
Services, Newport Petroleum, Genesis Exploration, Petrobank, Enertec
Resource Services Richland Petroleum and Petromet Resources.
Other falling sectors included conglomerates 0.8%, pipelines 0.5%
metals/minerals 0.4%, real estate 0.1% and utilities 0.1%.
Among hot stocks, graphics chip leader ATI Technologies Inc. fell
C$0.85 to C$14.75. Shares lost their zip after news that rival S3
Inc. and chip behemoth Intel Corp. reached a deal to swap some
technology. S3 will also partner Intel in some graphics development.
MetroNet Communications Corp. closed up at $39.50, up $3.50.
References
Canadian Market Digest
quote.yahoo.com
Canadian Markets/Sectors
quote.yahoo.com
Canadian Most Actives
quote.yahoo.com
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Montreal Exchange - Daily stock market report - 4 p.m.
General activity on The Montreal Exchange at 4 p.m.
(including the early morning session):
Trading HEAVY
Volume traded: 14.9 million shares
Value traded: 208.5 million dollars
Indices:
XXM close +12.67 3263.34
high 3265.46
low 3242.60
Montreal Exchange most active stocks:
TRANSCDA PIPLIN UNCHANGED 22.35
LAIDLAW INC. +0.25 15.20
BOMBARDIER Cl B +0.25 21.25
PREMDOR -0.60 14.25
RANGER OIL LTD -0.05 7.05
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The Alberta Stock Exchange Closing Market Report For Thursday,
December 17, 1998
ALBERTA STOCK EXCHANGE Daily Trading Summary for: 12/17/1998
Shares Dollar Issues
Traded Value Traded Advances Declines Unchanged
10,894,339 4,164,180.00 448 144 152 152
Net
Top Five Dollar Value Volume Close Change Trades
942,305.00 TELEBACKUP SYSTEMS 98,900 9.600 .800 42
262,498.00 ONTEX RESOURCES LTD 231,225 1.030 .190- 89
181,403.00 OMNI-LITE INDUSTRIES 88,133 2.050 .350- 6
104,600.00 BLUESTAR BATTERY SYST 59,500 1.700 23
80,760.00 RADAR ACQUISITIONS 122,000 .650 .150- 11
Net
Top Five Volume Value Close Change Trades
511,091 PYRAMID ENERGY INC 71,553 .140 1
457,900 SAVANNA RESOURCES LTD 9,147 .020 11
275,400 USA VIDEO INTERACTIVE 19,264 .070 .010- 7
273,500 PARKCREST EXPLORATION 59,553 .240 .020- 21
256,000 JEREZ ENERGY INT'L 28,260 .110 .015 7
Alberta Stock Exchange Combined Value Index: 1,678.49
Change: 8.45-
(x)J-JCP Total Number of Trades: 1,839
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Vancouver Stock Exchange Closing Market Report for December 17, 1998
Trading was moderate on a volume of 23.3million shares worth 12.9
million dollars, with 156 advances, 157 declines and 374 issues
unchanged.
The VSE Composite Indicator closed down 0.86 at 382.63
The VSE Mining Indicator closed up 0.28 at 286.97
Most Active Issues by Volume
Volume Name Symbol Close Change
1,300,000 Detec Resources Ltd. DET 0.00 0.00
1,119,423 BMA Mining Corporation BMA 0.18 0.03
635,875 Winspear Resources Ltd. WSP 3.15 0.10
630,000 Columbia Gold Mines Ltd. COB 0.07 0.01
615,085 Argentina Gold Corp. ARP 5.65 0.05
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Morning Update
Toronto stocks looked poised to advance at the open on Friday, led by
financial services shares, despite concerns about impeachment on Wall
Street.
Triple-witching options expiry should help Toronto post gains and may
swell volumes and boost volatility.
"We are going to rally into the year-end, led by financial stocks,"
David Jarvis, liability trader at Levesque Beaubien Geoffrion.
"Big buy program this morning in Toronto -- expiry today. So we are
going to see the market open quite positive."
The House of Representatives debate is expected to begin at 0900
EST/1400 GMT on four articles of impeachment that could lead to a
trial in the Senate.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's key 300 Composite Index edged up 7.62
points to 6291.45. However, declining issues outpaced advances 539 to
460, leading to a mixed result overall. Another 294 stocks ended
steady.
Canada's largest stock market underperformed the Dow Jones Industrial
Average in New York, which gained 85.22 points, or nearly 1 percent,
to 8875.82.
Oil staggers up after latest pounding
Volatile oil markets paused for breath early on Friday following a
dramatic collapse that wiped a further 11 percent from already
battered prices.
International benchmark Brent 13 cents gain in early trade to $10.22
paled against Thursday's slump of more than $1.20 a barrel.
Some 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of Iraqi crude exports weighed
on the market as supplies continued to flow on Friday despite a second
wave of overnight U.S-led military strikes there.
Border monitors from Dutch firm Saybolt, employed by the United
Nations to check Iraqi oil sales under the exchange for food and
medicine programme remained at their posts.
Falls gathered pace on Thursday after a meeting of key producers Saudi
Arabia, Venezuela and non-OPEC Mexico in Madrid failed to pull out any
new moves to combat an imposing global supply surplus.
The slump more than wiped out gains of over 80 cents made on Wednesday
as the United States prepared to launch missile strikes on Iraq and
traders wondered if the producer trio could come up with surprise new
output cuts.
It pulled prices back within range of 12-year lows set just last week
at $9.60 and heaped fresh misery on oil producers already enduring the
lowest yearly average price for over twenty years.
The only concrete new measure to emerge from Madrid was Venezuela's
commitment to extend cuts by six months to the end of 1999, matching
pledges from Saudi Arabia and Mexico.
This disappointed analysts who have been calling for a further 1.5
million bpd of producer cuts to try and pep up prices.
But Saudi Arabia claimed to have secured a new commitment from
Venezuela for a fresh attack on global oversupply.
A senior Saudi source said the the three producers, who earlier this
year marshalled a 3.1 million bpd producer cutback package, have no
qualms about making further sacrifices.
Venezuela has previously said it could not consider fresh cuts as its
new government prepares to take office in February.
The producer trio also agreed to enforce rigorous compliance with
their combined cuts of 1.45 million bpd. Accusations of Venezuelan
indiscipline was among the disputes that stopped OPEC reaching any
agreement at an acrimonious November meeting.
Renewed co-operation could prepare the ground for potential new
producer action early next year, analysts said warning that a long
dispute over Iran's production level could block progress.
Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali al-Naimi admitted on Friday that there
is between 150 and 250 million barrels too much oil in the market.
"It will take time between now and year end 1999 to withdraw this
overhang," Naimi said in Norway for a consultative meeting with Oil
and Energy Minister Marit Arnstad.
Naimi said the supply glut had far more bearing on the state of the
oil price than the conflict in Iraq.
"There is too much oil on the market to worry about what is happening
in Iraq," he said.
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Chart References
NYMEX LIGHT SWEET CRUDE OIL PRICE CHARTS
oilworld.com
IPE BRENT CRUDE OIL PRICE CHARTS
oilworld.com
OIL INDUSTRY COMBINED GRAPH CHARTS
oilworld.com
NYMEX HENRY-Hub NATURAL GAS PRICE CHARTS
oilworld.com
WEST Tx WAHA-Hub NATURAL GAS PRICE CHARTS
oilworld.com
OIL INDUSTRY COMBINED GRAPH CHARTS
oilworld.com
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