Roger Biduk; Bay Street Lower on U.S. Holiday

Roger Biduk writes:

With the U.S. markets closed today for the Martin Luther King holiday, attention was centered on the goings on in Europe and the U.K.
The slowdown in Europe may be deeper than previously thought with the Royal Bank of Scotland reporting a large loss.
The S&P/TSX composite index pulled back 25.3 points to 8,895.1 after increasing worries about big losses in the financial sector helped trim the TSX by almost two per cent last week.
The TSX Venture Exchange added 2.52 points to 868.17.
A day before the Bank of Canada is widely expected to cut its main interest rate half a point to one per cent, the CDN$ fell 0.57 of a cent to 79.56 cents US.

The federal government announced moves to loosen credit, Industry Minister Tony Clement saying the federal government will invest $350 million in the Business Development Bank to ease credit conditions for auto supply companies and other small and medium-sized businesses.

The TSX energy sector moved off 1.5 per cent. The New York Mercantile Exchange is closed for floor trading but in electronic trading the February crude contract, which expires Tuesday, declined $2.32 to US$34.19. The March contract gave back $2.13 to US$40.44 a barrel.
EnCana Corp. (TSX: ECA.TO) declined 78 cents to C$55.95 while Canadian Natural Resources (TSX: CNQ.TO) lost 86 cents to $47.68. Suncor Inc. (TSX: SU.TO), which releases quarterly earnings tomorrow, was down 70 cents to $26.78.

Shares in industrial waste management services provider Newalta Inc. (TSX: NAL.TO) added four cents to $5.84 after it said its capital expenditure in the first half of 2009 will be $15 million, compared with $125 million in all of 2008. Newalta is heavily dependent on the oil and gas industry in Western Canada.

Roger Biduk:
The financial sector sagged one per cent. TD Bank (TSX: TD.TO) dropped $1.06 to $42.64 while Royal Bank (TSX: RY.TO) slid $1.10 to $32.54.

The gold sector was also weak, down one per cent as the February bullion contract in New York dipped $5.60 to US$834.30. Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX: ABX.TO) faded 70 cents to $42.
Telecoms were a bright spot, up 1.25 per cent with Telus Corp. (TSX: T.TO) ahead 93 cents to $36.23 while Rogers Communications (TSX: RCI-B.TO) advanced 65 cents to $34.20.

Bombardier Inc. (TSX: BBD-B.TO) shares advanced two cents to $4.75 after it said its transportation division will continue to operate the Las Vegas monorail that shuttles passengers along the east side of the city's famed strip. Its Berlin-based railway equipment division has received a five-year option order from the Las Vegas Monorail Company valued at US$58 million.
Canadian National Railways (TSX: CNR.TO), which reports earnings on Thursday, gained 12 cents to $42.65.

SFK Pulp Fund (TSX: SFK-UN.TO) units retreated 22 cents or 30.5 per cent to 50 cents after it suspended monthly distributions "until market conditions substantially improve." The company also extended quarterly maintenance shutdowns at two U.S. recycling mills by one and two weeks.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed up 26.7 points at 8,256.9, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 84.5 points to close at 13,340.
London's FTSE 100 was off 2.22 per cent. Frankfurt's DAX was down 2.13 per cent while the Paris CAC 40 dipped 1.7 per cent.

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