TSX Poised For A Lower Open Amid Weak Energy Prices, Euro Zone Worries Bay Street stocks may extend their declines Wednesday morning amid easing energy prices and on renewed worries over a setback to growth in the euro zone region due to the simmering debt crisis.
Yesterday, Germany banned a form of short selling in some select equities and euro-government bonds in an effort to curb speculative trading. Meanwhile, the European Commission urged EU nations to jointly regulate naked short-selling of shares and investments to reduce volatility in financial markets.
On Tuesday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index shed 48.49 points or 0.41% to 11,764.51, taking its losses in the past four days to 431 points or 3.58%.
The price of oil fell to a new 10-month low on worries over the euro zone growth prospects. Crude for June shed $0.86 to $68.55 a barrel.
The price of gold continued to retreat from its all-time high of $1,250 hit last Friday on profit taking. Gold for June slipped $7.20 to $1,207.40 an ounce.
In corporate news, independent investment dealer Canaccord Financial ported improved fourth-quarter net income of C$0.14 per share, up from C$0.07 per share in the year ago quarter. Excluding significant items, earnings per share were C$0.21 compared to C$0.07 last year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.05 per share.
Gold miner Richmont Mines said it would buy the balance 30% stake in Louvem Mines by issuing one share of Richmont for each 5.4 shares of Louvem.
Randgold Resources (GOLD) said it disposed 5 million common shares in gold miner Volta Resources t a price of C$1.59 per common share on Wednesday 12 May 2010. The total proceeds payable to Randgold were C$7.95 million, or $7.80 million.
Construction and infrastructure development company Aecon Group said it bagged a $19 million highway widening contract.
Merchandising and real estate company Sears Canada reported lower first-quarter net earnings of C$0.07 per share compared to C$0.10 per share a year ago. The company declared an extraordinary cash dividend of C$3.50 per share and said it will buy back up to 5% of its issued and outstanding common shares.
Hy-Drive Technologies posted a wider first-quarter net loss of C$0.02 per share, compared to C$0.01 per share in the previous year period.In economic news, Statistics Canada said wholesale sales were up 1.4% to $44.4 billion in March, raising for a fourth time in five months.
From the U.S., the Labor Department said Consumer Price Index edged down by 0.1% in April following a 0.1% increase in March. The modest decrease came as a surprise to economists, who were expecting another 0.1% increase in prices. Excluding the drop in energy prices as well as a modest increase in food prices, the core consumer price index came in unchanged for the second consecutive month. Economists were expecting core prices to edge up by 0.1%
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