Business
Wild ride for markets
Wild ride for markets
About this update from Barrick Mining Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"\nWild ride for markets\n\nGold still soars\n\n May 6, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) -- North American stock markets are fluctuating wildly as investors become convinced that the European debt crisis will not be contained with Greece.The S&P/TSX composite index sank 32.70 points to end the day at 11,842.43. The TSX had briefly plunged sharply, down 450 points for a few minutes, before recovering some ground.Commodity stocks and currencies have suffered this week as investors lose faith in the euro and pile into the safe haven status of the U.S. dollar.Barrick Gold rose 4.1% to $45.92 and Agnico-Eagle Mines added 4.1% to $66.47, as the price of bullion advanced towards $1,200 U.S. level.The financial sector dropped, despite strong earnings reports from insurance giants Manulife Financial and Sun Life Financial. Driven by strong sales of insurance and wealth products as well as gains from equity investments, Manulife swung to profit in the first quarter. The insurer earned $1.12 billion or $0.64 per share in the quarter, compared to a loss of $1.08 billion or $0.67 per share in the year-ago period. Sun Life reported quarterly profit of $409 million, compared to a loss of $213 million a year ago, and earned $0.72 per share, topping Street estimates of $0.62 per share.Shares of Manulife Financial rose 3.5% to $18.28 and Sun Life Financial added 2.2% to $29.75.Canada's biggest lender, RBC shed 2.8% to $59.49 and BMO gave in 3.2% to $58.97.Among energy stocks, Imperial Oil fell 0.7% to $40.37 and Encana trimmed 1.5% to $31.91.Engineering and construction firm SNC-Lavalin Group lost 1.2% to $49.20. The Montreal-based company reported a first quarter profit that declined to $71.9 million from last year's $77.5 million, as revenues decreased to $1.4 billion from $1.6 billion. Magna International, which reported a first-quarter profit of $223 million U.S. from a loss of $200 million U.S. last year, soared 14.7% to $73.74. The auto parts supplier also proposed a plan to put an end to its dual share structure, which could ease founder and chairman Frank Stronach's control over the firm.Manitoba Telecom Services fell 3.2% to $30.74. The Winnipeg-based telecom network provider said its first-quarter profit declined to $20.4 million from $37 million, as revenues fell 6%. The company also declared a cash dividend of $0.65 per share, payable on July 15. S...