Monday, September 25, 2006, 4:15 PM EST (Thomson Financial Corporate
Services): The TSX finished little changed today, while U.S. markets gained
momentum. Strength in the financial, technology and consumer discretionary
sectors battled weakness among the resource-related sectors, namely gold,
metals and mining.
* The S&P/TSX Stock Exchange Composite Index edged up 1.11 points, or
0.01%.
* The mining mega-merger tale has been extended again, as Inco has
accepted the final US$86 per share bid from Brazilian suitor CVRD over the
weekend, ahead of the original deadline of September 28. However, the
deadline has now been extended by CVRD to October 16, as regulatory
approval is still pending from Investment Canada and the European
Commission.
* In other mining news, Tiberon Minerals plans to fight the Vietnamese
government's decision to stop it from expanding its stake in the Nui Phao
mining project by tentatively agreeing to purchase a 7.5% stake from
Vietnamese-owned partner Intraco. Elsewhere, Semafo, the Montreal gold
miner, dropped today as it revealed an 18% scaling back of its gold
production at a mine in Niger due to mechanical problems.
* Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, Inc. lost market share today after
announcing a payment of C$20 million to cut the deficit in its employment
pension plan. The agreement is pending ratification by the Grain Services
Union next week.
* Within the industrial group, Bombardier announced that it has won a
C$702 million order to supply 19 of its CRJ900 jets to My Way Airlines in
Italy.
* Oil had a rocky day, beginning down as markets pondered the positive
reserve news from the U.S., as well as the news from BP that Prudhoe Bay
would be back online sooner than expected. Crude dipped below the US$60
mark for the first time in six months in the morning, and natural gas and
gold followed. However, markets began to recover as OPEC indicated it might
lower production at its next meeting. Crude gained US$0.90 and closed up at
US$61.45.
* Gold went up for the fourth day in a row, although its growth slowed.
The yellow metal rose to US$595.50, up US$0.50.
* On the U.S. economic front, the National Association of Realtors
released its report on existing-home sales in August, showing a slip of
0.5%, up from the July tumble of 4.1% but far less than the 2.4% drop that
had been predicted. However, median annualized home prices fell to
US$225,000 from US$230,000 in July, the first such drop since April 1995.
-- Carolyn.Crapo@contractor.Thomson.com; Thomson Financial Corporate
Services
This is Thomson Financial Corporate Services Canadian Commentary, which
is updated twice daily. The information herein is believed to be true and
accurate, we take no responsibility for inaccurate information and reserve
the right to update our reports. For more financial information at your
fingertips, please visit http://www.irchannel.com. If you have any questions
please e-mail James Sang at james.sang@tfn.com or call 646.822.6233 For
more information about Thomson Financial visit us on-line at
http://www.thomsonfinancial.com.
***ALERT: Thomson Financial is discontinuing its Canada daily
commentary on Monday, October 2. The last commentary will be released on
Friday, September 29. If you have any questions, or need further
assistance, please contact Linda Shea at Linda.Shea@thomson.com
SOURCE Thomson Financial Corporate Group
back to top
