The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index
kicked off the week by surging higher on Monday, buoyed by firm
oil prices and a jump by BCE Inc after Canada's top court
backed the buyout of the telecom company.
However, late in the day sources said the banks funding the
BCE buyout have asked for significant concessions and have
considered altering or dropping the C$34.8 billion ($34.3
billion) deal.
BCE stock eased from its intraday highs to close up C$1.98,
or 5.7 percent, at C$36.58 on a volume of nearly 30 million
shares.
Resource issues underpinned the benchmark's rise, while the
price of oil climbed as concerns over supply eclipsed Saudi
Arabia's promise to raise output.
"The commodities are continuing to do well," said Paul
Harris, portfolio manager at Avenue Investment Management in
Toronto.
"I don't think they're going up as aggressively as they
were previously, but I think they will continue to do well for
many of the reasons people keep talking about, such as low
supply and good demand."
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 111.15 points, or
0.76 percent, at 14,691.82 with six of its 10 main sectors on
the upside.
The energy and materials sectors rose 2.8 percent and 1.8
percent respectively. Suncor Energy was up C$3.16, or 5.1
percent, at C$64.98, while in the materials group, Potash Corp
of Saskatchewan gained C$6.24, or 2.7 percent, to
C$239.89.
In the mining space, HudBay Minerals will buy Skye
Resources for about C$437 million to get possession of the
Fenix nickel project in Guatemala, the companies said.
HudBay finished down 78 Canadian cents, or 5.3 percent, at
C$14.01, while Skye put on 97 Canadian cents, or 12.6 percent,
to C$8.69.
On the downside, financials gave up 1.7 percent, with
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce falling after an analyst
forecast the bank would have to write off at least C$1 billion
in the current quarter due to exposure to bond insurers.
CIBC ended down C$1.03, or 1.7 percent, at C$60.60. Also in
the sector, Royal Bank of Canada lost C$1.37, or 2.9 percent,
to C$46.23.
Analysts said they expect to see more writedowns continue
to plague financials both in Canada and globally.
"You can make the argument that Canada is perhaps not in as
bad a shape overall. But, nevertheless, I think it's more of an
international problem than one that's very particular to the
United States," said Levente Mady, a broker at MF Global Canada
in Vancouver.
Market volume was 378 million shares worth C$8 billion.
Decliners outpaced advancers 833 to 756. The blue chip S&P/TSX
60 index closed up 7.15 points, or 0.82 percent, at 877.70.
In New York, stocks were little changed in quiet trade as
jitters over problems among financial issues offset advances in
the energy sector.
The Dow Jones industrial average was flat, ending down 0.33
of a point at 11,842.36, while the Nasdaq composite index
dipped 20.35 points, or 0.85 percent, to 2,385.74.
($1=$1.02 Canadian)
(Editing by Rob Wilson)
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