Business
Stocks have jump in step
Stocks have jump in step
About this update from Genesis Ai Corp
[{"type":"text","content":"\nStocks have jump in step\n\nChinese stimulus just the spur\n Mar. 4, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) -- 10:25 am EST\nEquity traders were chomping at the bit to begin the day, and the loud surge in prices provided evidence of that feeling early Wednesday. Investors brushed aside disappointing earnings from retailing giant Costco Corp. and an indicator of huge U.S. job losses last month.Instead, they preferred to pin hopes on China amid speculation the country's leaders would unveil new initiatives to bolster the world's third-largest economy at a legislative meeting that opens tomorrow.Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index charged out of the gate ahead 140.97 points in the first half-hour, to 7,772.59 Also helping sentiment were figures suggesting Chinese manufacturing, while contracting again in February, did so at a slower rate than the previous month.Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., hammered by three credit-rating downgrades and a 72% stock drop this year, is in talks to sell most of its unprofitable life insurance unit to Canada's Sun Life Financial Inc., according to sources. Shares in Sun Life were down 80 cents, or 4.6% at $16.64. New Gold Inc., the Canadian miner that produces precious metal in Mexico and Australia, agreed to buy Western Goldfields Inc. for about $314.6 million to gain the Mesquite mine in California. Shares in New Gold were off 18 cents, or 7.8%, at $2.12. In economic news, Tuesday's Bank of Canada decision to cut interest rates to almost zero and consider extraordinary steps to boost credit raises new concerns that the country's recession won't be as mild and short as policy makers predicted. Governor Mark Carney yesterday lowered the rate on overnight loans between commercial banks to 0.5% from 1% and said he may reduce it again. Canada's economy shrank at a 3.4% annual pace in the fourth quarter, the most since 1991 and more than the 2.3% drop the bank had predicted. The Canadian dollar gained 0.56 at 77.89 cents U.S. BAYSTREET\n \nFor a change, all of the 13 TSX sub-groups were higher, climbing on the back of the metals and mining sector, which danced ahead 5.3%, followed by a 4.3% surge in energy stocks and a 2.4% improvement in industrials. The TSX Venture Exchange was up 4.52 points to 828.59 while the Nasdaq Canada index picked 16.43 points to 402.81ON WALLSTREETThe Dow Jones Industrials index leap...