Friday, June 2, 2006, 4:15 PM ET (Thomson Financial Corporate
Services): Canadian shares eked out a gain this afternoon on rising energy
stocks, while materials stocks stayed flat as the market continued to
recover from last month's correction. And a tepid U.S. jobs report fuelled
hopes that the Federal Reserve's rate-hiking cycle could be near an end.
* The S&P/TSX composite index gained 51.69 points to 11898.66.
* On the U.S. economic front, a much weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs
report raised hopes that the Federal Reserve will take a pause in raising
interest rates. However, it also raised worries that the economy could be
slowing more than thought. The Labor Department announced Friday that job
creation for May came in at just 75,000, far below the expected 170,000. On
the bright side, the U.S. unemployment rate dipped to 4.6%, the lowest
since the summer of 2001.
* In other U.S. economic data, new orders for U.S.-made factory goods
dropped 1.8% in April, led by a decline in demand for construction and
mining machinery and for aircraft parts, the Commerce Department reported.
It was the biggest drop in factory orders in four months and followed a
revised 4.0% gain in March.
* The energy sector rose as the July contract for crude on the New York
Mercantile Exchange climbed $1.99, or 2.8%, to $72.33, even as the OPEC
cartel decided to maintain oil output for now. Iran's nuclear ambitions,
meanwhile, continue to support crude futures.
* Gold futures, meanwhile, closed higher, leading an advance across the
metals pits as the dollar fell sharply following a weaker-than-expected
U.S. May jobs report and traders awaited the next phase of Iran's ongoing
nuclear dispute with the West.
* In other news, shares in Cogence Cable Inc., Canada's fourth-largest
cable TV operator, were down on its announcement that it will pay 464.9
million euros, or about C$660 million, for the second-largest cable
operator in Portugal.
* In financials, Laurentian Bank ended lower after Canada's
sixth-largest bank said its second-quarter profit more than doubled, to
C$24.6 million.
* In health care, drug manufacturer Pantheon Inc. rose after the
company said it earned US$3 million for the three months ended April 30,
the second quarter of the company's 2006 fiscal year. That compared with a
profit of US$3.8 million in the same 2005 quarter.
Michael.O'Brien@contractor.Thomson.com
This is Thomson Financial Corporate Services Canadian Commentary, which
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accurate, we take no responsibility for inaccurate information and reserve
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SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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