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Wednesday, November 11, 2009 10:03 AM
Market open: Strong across the board
Simon Avery
Stocks found solid footing and advanced in early trading in North America Wednesday, lifted by assurances that interest rates will remain low for some time.
Gold producers led the charge in Toronto, with Barrick, Yamana, Kinross, Iamgold, Goldcorp and Eldorado all among the most active, rising between 1 per cent and 3 per cent in the opening minutes. The S&P/TSX climbed 63.74 points to 11490.48. The price of gold reached new heights, rising $12.80 to $1,115.30.
Link to this postWednesday, November 11, 2009 09:11 AM
Premarket: Postive vibes from overseas
Simon Avery
North American markets are poised for gains Wednesday morning on investor confidence that interest rates will remain historically low and on positive data from overseas.
Futures for the S&P/TSX, the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones industrial average were all up before the opening bell. And markets from London to Hong Kong all showed good gains earlier in the day.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009 06:55 AM
Wall Street poised for a solid opening
Globe and Mail Staff
Stocks around the world have enjoyed a strong first half to the week after finance ministers from the Group of 20 rich and developing countries indicated that borrowing costs would remain low for a while yet.
As a result, the Dow Jones industrial average has struck new highs for 2009.
Analysts said much could well depend on whether the S&P 500 – widely considered to be a better barometer of investor appetite than the Dow – can breach its October high of 1,097.
As a result, investors will be looking at earnings reports from a host of U.S. retailers this week, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Macy’s Inc. and JC Penney Inc. Without the help of the consumer, which accounts for around for 70 per cent of the U.S. economy, any global economic recovery will be modest.
Wall Street was poised for a solid opening later, though trading was likely to be light, with government debt markets closed for Veterans Day.
European stock markets rose Wednesday, helped by strong earnings from French bank Credit Agricole SA and a surprise increase in British employment levels.
The euro meanwhile was pushing back up towards 15-month highs against the dollar while the pound slid over a cent and a half after Bank of England governor Mervyn King said a fall in the value of the currency was necessary to rebalance the British economy.
British labour market figures showed that employment actually increased in the three months to September, the first rise since May 2008 – an increase in the available work force, as graduates joined the labour market, also pushed unemployment up, however.
Oil firmed above $79 as a 15-month low in the dollar diverted investors’ focus from fundamentals, with weekly U.S. government inventory data being delayed by one day to Thursday.
Analysts said strong Chinese oil demand and factory output also supported the market but the gain was capped by weak demand elsewhere and a relatively quick recovery of the U.S. oil industry after storm disruption.
Gold was moving higher Wednesday morning and was at $1,115.20 at 6:50 a.m. ET.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 05:08 PM
At the close: A quiet one
Simon Avery
Equity markets ended in mixed territory Tuesday in a quiet day of trading that lacked any major economic news.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index fell 60.14 points to 11426.74, led down by energy and materials stocks.
In New York the Dow Jones industrial average edged up 20.03 points to 10246.97, with the health care sector looking strongest. But the broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index lost 0.06 points to end at 1093.01. The Nasdaq composite index declined 2.98 points to 2151.08.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 02:10 PM
Stock gains courtesy of the U.S. peso
Simon Avery
The U.S. dollar remains near a 15-month low next to the currencies of major trading partners. At the same time, U.S. stock markets are soaring. The broad S&P 500 is up 65 per cent since March. Why the seeming disconnect?
One reason is that investors have calculated that a weak greenback means fatter profits for U.S. companies doing business overseas. That has meant bigger stock gains for companies with foreign markets than for businesses focused on the U.S. domestic market alone.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 12:41 PM
Noon: Little to shout about
Simon Avery
North American markets were all down at noon, with U.S. indices marginally off and Canada’s S&P/TSX composite short nearly 100 points after natural gas prices slid, pulling down Canadian Natural Resources and EnCana Corp.
Broadly, the energy, materials, financials and industrials sectors were all weak. The consumer staples and health care subindices were among the minority showing any strength.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 11:39 AM
Pump up the volume
Simon Avery
The bulls have been smiling for months now, continuing to draw satisfaction from a rally that won’t succumb to the seemingly logical arguments of bearish economists and strategists.
There are many questions out there about what is really driving the seven-month gain and how sustainable it really is. One of the big ones that keeps popping up is trading volume. Where is it?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 11:08 AM
Market open: Wimpy
Simon Avery
U.S. and Canadian markets are treading water Tuesday morning after Monday’s high octane performance. In early trading the Dow Jones industrial average gained 16 points to 10243, the broader S&P 500 added 2 points to 1095 and the Nasdaq advanced 6 points to 2160 . Canada’s S&P/TSX composite index shed 16 points to 11470.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 10:04 AM
Premarket: Cool and stable
Simon Avery
North American markets may be set to give up some of their gains from Monday as the S&P 500, Nasdaq-100 and Dow Jones industrial average futures were all slightly lower early Tuesday.
Canada’s S&P/TSX 60 futures, however, showed a slim gain ahead of the open.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 06:52 AM
World stocks on the rise
Globe and Mail Staff
European and Asian stocks rose further Tuesday as expectations of low borrowing costs continued to boost the appeal of equity markets over other investments – on Monday the Dow Jones industrial average closed at its highest level this year.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 17.20 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 5,252.38 while Germany’s DAX rose 19.51 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 5,639.23. The CAC-40 in France was 5.47 points, or 0.1 per cent, higher at 3,790.86.
Earlier, Japan’s Nikkei stock average added 61.74 points, or 0.6 per cent, to close at 9,870.73, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.3 per cent to 22,268.16.
Markets Blog Contributors
David Berman
David Berman has been writing about business and investing since 1995. He began his career at Canadian Business magazine, where he wrote full-length features on a range of topics, from goose slaughterers to broadcasters. Later, he moved to MoneySense magazine, where his emphasis turned to investing. More recently, he worked at the Financial Post as an investing writer and daily columnist. He has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto and studied journalism at Ryerson University.
David Parkinson
David Parkinson has been covering business and financial markets since 1990, and has been with The Globe and Mail since 2000. A Calgary native, he received a Southam Fellowship from the University of Toronto in 1999-2000, studying international political economics.
Simon Avery
Simon Avery has covered telecom and technology for the Globe since 2004. Previously, he was a staff reporter for The Associated Press in Los Angeles and for The Wall Street Journal in San Francisco. He covered the boom and bust in Silicon Valley for the Financial Post between 1998 and 2001. Mr. Avery holds a Master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts in English and political science from the University of Western Ontario.
