Nine Mile Metals Ltd. press release
TSX flat at open
CSE - Canadian National Stock Exchange · Copper · Zinc · Lead · Silver · Gold · Indium · Canada
Kraft, Citigroup in news
Jan. 19, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) --
Canadian stocks struggled to sustain gains witnessed in the previous session on Tuesday as falling oil prices may weigh on the resource heavy Bay Street.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index backtracked 15.17 points in the first moments of trading to 11,735.37.
Snapping its two-day losing streak, the S&P/TSX Composite Index ended higher on Monday, adding 65.17 points to 11,750.54. Analysts attribute the previous session's rally to bargain hunting after the main index slid to a two-week low last Friday.
The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 0.25%. The Bank Rate is unchanged at 0.5% per cent and the deposit rate is 0.25%.
Financial stocks may be in play after Citigroup Inc., the third largest U.S. bank, announced a $7.6-billion fourth-quarter loss or $0.33 per share loss.
Meanwhile, Statistics Canada said Tuesday that the country's composite leading indicator soared 1.5% in December, largely helped by household spending and a surging stock market. Analysts were expecting a 1% growth in the index.
In corporate news, Alexis Minerals Corp. 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.
Oil and gas explorer Stealth Ventures Ltd. said Monday that Robert Bell has resigned as Chairman of the Board of Directors and as a Director of the company, effective January 18.
Exploration and mine development company Exeter Resource Corp said it will undertake a spin-out 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.
A group of investors, led by former senator Jerry Grafstein, were reportedly intensifying their bid for the ailing Canwest Global Communications.
Mineral explorer International Tower Hill Mines announced the receipt of new, positive, metallurgical test results from the Sunshine Zone on its Livengood Gold project in Alaska.
Lovitt Resources Inc. announced a non-brokered private placement of up to 1.2 million units for $0.60 per unit.
In brokerage updates, UBS trimmed Potash Corp. price target to $116 from $120. Macquarie cuts Iteration Energy to an "underperform" from a "neutral" rating.
The Canadian dollar erased 42 cents to 97 cents U.S.
ON BAYSTREET
Of the 14 TSX subgroups, nine were lower to start out. Energy was 0.8% to the bad, while metals and mining stocks slipped 0.7%, and utilities stumbled 0.3%.
Of the five gainers, health-care was strongest, ahead 1.9%, followed by global base metals, up 1.2%, and gold, advancing 0.5%.
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 0.50 points to 1,606.22, while the Nasdaq Canada index subtracted 6.90 points to 724.02.
ON WALLSTREET
In New York, stocks gained Tuesday, shaking off early weakness, as investors mulled a stronger dollar, Citigroup's quarterly loss and Kraft's buyout of Cadbury.
The Dow Jones Industrials regained 45.27 points to begin a shortened week at 10,654.92. The S&P 500 tacked on 6.15 points to 1.142.18, and the Nasdaq regained 21.32 points to 2,309.31.
U.S. markets were closed Monday for the Martin Luther King holiday. On Friday, stocks retreated on concerns about the corporate results posted so far. Investors returned from the long weekend to focus on quarterly financial results from a slew of major banks throughout the week.
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. Shares fell 2% in morning trading.
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 gained eight cents to $78.08 U.S.
Gold prices gained three dollars to $1,133 U.S.