Roger Biduk writes:
The Toronto stock market missed an entire trading day because of a technical problem for the first time in its history Wednesday - and has said only that it intends to reopen at 9:30 a.m. ET Thursday.
Market operator TMX Group Inc. (TSX:X) said its new Quantum trading engine performed flawlessly but data feeds were interrupted, and "because the data feeds provide information to investors to guide their trading decisions, trading was halted to ensure market integrity."
It gave no specifics on the nature of the problem, saying information would be provided when its investigation is complete.
This isn't the first time the Toronto market has closed unexpectedly: it was shut down after the September 2001 terrorist attacks, and about a year before that it collapsed for four hours under a flood of trading in former market heavyweight Nortel Networks.
Judging by the performance of Canadian bellwether stocks interlisted in New York, financials had a negative session a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate to between zero and 0.25 per cent amid a worsening economy.
Royal Bank was down 45 cents to US$28.65, CIBC rose 41 cents to US$41.73, Research In Motion Ltd. moved ahead 73 cents to $40.67.
EnCana Corp. fell $1.45 to US$46.36 as the January crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled $3.54 lower at US$40.06.
The slippage in crude prices came even as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its output quotas by 2.2 million barrels a day. It's the largest-ever one-time reduction as the cartel struggles to support prices that have fallen from a July peak of US$147 a barrel.
The OPEC move came as new data showed U.S. crude oil inventories increased by 500,000 barrels last week
The Canadian dollar added 0.35 cent to 83.56 cents US, after U.S.-dollar weakness had pushed the loonie up two cents Tuesday.
The February bullion contract in New York rose $25.80 to US$868.50 an ounce.
Roger Biduk writes:
In corporate news, Canadian Pacific Railway Co. (TSX:CP) plans 600 temporary layoffs and other cost cuts as freight traffic sags. Its shares ticked ahead nine cents to US$35.15 in New York.
Heavy equipment dealer Finning International Inc. (TSX:FTT) said it is cutting 600 jobs worldwide to "rebalance" its business for the economic downturn.
Insurer Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (TSX:KFS), under pressure from a major shareholder, says it is cutting costs by US$20 million next year.
Quebecor World Inc. (TSX:IQW) said Pierre Karl Peladeau and Erik Peladeau, heirs of founder Pierre Peladeau, have resigned from the commercial printer's board. This comes as former parent company Quebecor Inc., headed by the Peladeaus, sues Quebecor World, which is restructuring under bankruptcy protection.
Health-sciences company MDS Inc. (TSX:MDS) reported a fourth-quarter loss of US$255 million on a big after-tax writedown related to the troubled Maple medical-isotope reactor project. The results are preliminary and do not include another writedown of $270 million to $370 million related to goodwill at its MDS Pharma Services division. Transat AT Inc. (TSX:TRZ) said non-cash and non-operating items drove the travel operator into the red for its 2008 financial year, with a net loss of $50 million. Transat took a $45.7-million writedown on asset-backed commercial paper and a $2.3-million foreign exchange hit.
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