Goldhills Holding Ltd. press release
TSX wallows in red
TSXV - TSX Venture Exchange · Copper · Molybdenum · Silver · Gold · Zinc · Canada
BofC move sets off no sparks
Jan. 19, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
After opening lower, Bay Street struggled to move into the positive zone in mid-morning deals Tuesday, as weakness seen among energy and financial stocks overshadowed gains in gold stocks.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index approached noon still down by 18.97 points to 11,731.57.
The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 0.25%, and will likely do so until the end of the second quarter of 2010.
Traders overlooked today's report from Statistics Canada, which said the country's composite leading indicator soared 1.5% in December, largely helped by household spending and a surging stock market.
The price of oil slipped, after OPEC trimmed its demand outlook and the U.S. dollar edged higher against a basket of currencies. Meanwhile, the price of bullion was almost flat.
National Bank of Canada slipped 0.40% and Toronto Dominion gave up 0.31%.
Fertilizer producer Potash Corp was down 1.26% after UBS trimmed its price target on the stock to $116 from $120.
The Energy Index lost 0.50%, with Encana Corp. losing 0.14%.
Oil and gas company Iteration Energy trimmed 0.79% after Macquarie downgraded the stock to an "Underperform" from a "Neutral" rating.
On the positive side, the Gold Index added strength, Goldcorp Inc. gained 0.59% and Rand Gold rose 1.08%.
Exploration and mine development company Exeter Resource Corp rose 6% after it said it will undertake a spinout transaction in which the assets of Exeter would be separated into two highly focused companies.
Exeter will retain all assets relating to the Caspiche gold-copper discovery, together with approximately $50 million in working capital, and will transfer to a new corporation Cerro Moro and other exploration properties in Argentina and approximately $25 million in working capital.
Alexis Minerals Corp. edged up 1.20% after it said its bid to acquire Garson Gold Corp. has now resulted in over 90% of Garson shares being tendered to the Offer. The company added that the Garson Gold acquisition gives Alexis a third project area in the prospective Snow Lake Mining Camp in Manitoba.
Canwest Global Communications strengthened over 6% after reports said that a group of investors, led by former senator Jerry Grafstein, were intensifying their acquisition bid.
Mineral explorer International Tower Hill Mines added 0.26% after announcing the receipt of new, positive, metallurgical test results from the Sunshine Zone on its Livengood Gold project in Alaska.
Oil and gas explorer Stealth Ventures Ltd. moved up 8.89%. On Monday, the company said that Robert Bell has resigned as Chairman of the Board of Directors and as a Director of the company, effective January 18.
The Canadian dollar erased 60 cents to 96.81 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, nine were headed higher by midday. Health-care stocks were the most robust, gaining 2.6%, followed by global base metals, 1.3% more solid, and telecoms, gaining 0.6% worth of ground.
The five laggards, on the other hand, were weighed by energy, down 1%, followed by metals and mining, off 0.7% and consumer discretionaries, down 0.3%.
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.70 points to 1,607.42, while the Nasdaq Canada index subtracted 6.08 points to 724.84.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, equities gained near midday Tuesday, recharging the rally, as investors scooped up technology, health care and consumer products names. Citigroup's quarterly loss, a stronger dollar and Kraft's buyout of Cadbury were all in the mix.
The Dow Jones Industrials had gained 75.12 points by noon at 10,684.77. The S&P 500 tacked on 8.86 points to 1.144.89, and the Nasdaq regained 21.30 points to 2,309.29.
Stocks opened weaker on Citigroup's results, but soon turned higher as investors jumped back into the market after Monday's holiday. Gains were pretty broad based, with 23 of 30 Dow components rising, led by Caterpillar, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's, 3M, Merck, Procter & Gamble and United Technologies
Health care stocks jumped on talk that a Republican election to the Massachussets U.S. Senate seat previously held by the late Ted Kennedy could stall or kill health care reform by ending the Democrats' filibuster-proof status.
Banking giant Citigroup reported a loss of 33 cents U.S. per share for the fourth quarter, versus a loss of $2.44 U.S. a year earlier. This matched the expectations of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
After the closing bell, technology bellwether IBM is expected to report that earnings per share rose 6% to $3.47 U.S. in the fourth quarter.
Some 57 companies in the S&P 500 report quarterly results this week, including Bank of America, American Express, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and a number of regional banks.
Overall S&P 500 earnings in the fourth quarter are expected to have spiked 186% from a year earlier and revenue is expected to have risen 7%. But strip out the impact of the financial sector, and earnings growth sinks to 8% and revenue growth falls to 1%.
British candy company Cadbury agreed to a larger $19.5-billion-U.S. takeover offer from U.S. food maker Kraft Foods in a deal that puts an end to a four-month fight. The board Tuesday recommended shareholders take Kraft's cash-and-stock offer in a move that will create the world's biggest chocolate maker.
Shares of Kraft, a Dow component, fell 2%. American-traded shares of Cadbury rose 5%.
Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.70% from 3.67% late Friday. Treasury markets were closed Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil took off 33 cents to $77.67 U.S.
Gold prices gained four dollars to $1,134 U.S.