As the S&P/TSX composite index moved toward record territory on Thursday afternoon, it made a sudden lurch 50 points higher between 1:30 and 2 p.m. (EDT). Are investors are getting a little antsy?
Turns out, those twin outperformers – Research In Motion Ltd. and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. – are at it again. Potash Corp., treading water during the earlier part of the day, jumped about $2 a share during those 30 minutes of trading. RIM rose about $1.50. Given the huge weighting these two stocks have in the benchmark index, their rise could explain a big part of the index's move.
Of course, they also had help from the energy and materials sectors, which rose 0.3 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively. (Potash is a member of the materials sub-index.) Crude oil hovered beneath the $123 (U.S.) a barrel mark. Gold rose nearly $13 an ounce, to about $882.
