Thursday, June 8, 2006, 4:15 PM EST (Thomson Financial Corporate
Services): North American stocks slumped, with Canada's benchmark index
shedding more than 300 points mid-day before recovering later in the
session. Meanwhile, interest rates continue to dominate global headlines,
as over the last 24 hours, the European Central Bank, South Korea, Turkey
and India have raised their respective key rates.
* The S&P/TSX Stock Exchange Composite Index receded 59.90 points, or
0.52%.
* Gold and mining shares were amongst the biggest decliners today. Gold
has dropped by about US$120, or 16%, from its 26-year high of US$730 hit on
May 12.
* On the economic front, April new-home prices surged by 1.2% to 138.2
in April on a monthly basis, and leapt 8.2% from a year ago. Strong demand
and higher material, labor and land costs lead to the fastest monthly jump
in 17 years.
* In the U.S., inventories at U.S. wholesalers tightened in April and
matched the lowest level on record, as sales jumped 1.3% while inventories
climbed 0.9%, the Commerce Department estimated. The rise in sales is the
largest increase since September 2005.
* Turning to tech, Research In Motion Ltd. said it will sell its
BlackBerry devices in Japan this fall after reaching an agreement with NTT
DoCoMo Inc. of Japan, one of the world's largest mobile-phone service
companies. Also, Cingular Wireless will begin selling the BlackBerry 7130c
in retail stores next week.
* In other tech news, Certicom Corp., a developer of encryption
technology for government, the military and corporate customers, cut its
fourth quarterly loss sharply on higher revenues, saying it lost
US$167,000, or nil per share, in the fourth quarter of the company's 2006
fiscal year. That compared with a loss of nearly US$1.2 million or US$0.03
a share for the same period in 2005. Revenues at the company rose to US$5.1
million from US$3.1 million.
* Holiday travel company Transat A.T. Inc. reported a second-quarter
profit of C$42.8 million, or C$1.24 a share, compared with a C$38.4 million
profit, or C$0.91 a share the year before despite "stiff competition," high
fuel prices and natural disasters. Revenues for the period were C$791.6
million, up 8.6% from a year-ago C$728.9 million.
-- Michael.O'Brien@contractor.Thomson.com; Thomson Financial Corporate
Services
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SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
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