Roger Biduk writes:
Stock markets drifted to a weak close Wednesday with nervous investors finding little reason to buy amid roadblocks to the Bush administration's US$700-billion rescue of the financial industry and Warren Buffett's investment in Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index was off 19.27 points to 12,513.36, while the Dow Jones industrial average shed 29 points to 10,825.17.
The TSX Venture Exchange was up 12.04 points to 1,550.64, while the Canadian dollar dipped 0.04 of a cent to 96.46 cents US.
The Toronto financial sector was flat. Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) declined 53 cents to $48.85, while Royal Bank (TSX:RY) was ahead 76 cents to $51.25. The Royal promoted Doug McGregor to chairman and co-CEO of RBC Capital Markets and Mark Standish to president and co-CEO of the division. They succeed Chuck Winograd, retiring at age 60 as chairman and CEO of the investment banking arm of Canada's largest bank.
AGF Management Ltd. (TSX:AGF.B) was down four cents to $19.96 after lower taxes helped boost summer-quarter profit by 4.3 per cent to $41.1 million, while stock market volatility hurt revenues.
The TSX energy sector was off 0.4 per cent as the November crude oil contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 88 cents to US$105.73 a barrel after earlier rising on data that showed an increase in American crude inventories last week.
EnCana Corp. (TSX:ECA) and partner ConocoPhillips said they are starting construction on a US$3.6-billion expansion at the Wood River refinery in Roxana, Ill. EnCana shares were 56 cents lower to $72.80.
Shares in Nexen Inc. (TSX:NXY) added 19 cents to $26.69 after it said full-year production will be "slightly" below previous guidance because of hurricane damage in the Gulf of Mexico.
The TSX gold sector rose 1.14 per cent as the December bullion contract in New York closed up $3.80 to US$895 an ounce. Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) ran ahead $1.15 to $39.95.
The consumer discretionary sector was also a drag with shares of auto parts giant Magna International Inc. (TSX:MG.A) down $2.39 to $59.25.
The industrials sector was down two per cent. Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) shares were down 31 cents to $6.08 while shares of Canadian National Railways gave up $1.34 to $51.90.
On the TSX, declines beat advances 837 to 692 with 219 unchanged as 365.2 million shares traded worth $5.77 billion.
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