Business
Stumbling finish for stocks
Stumbling finish for stocks
About this update from Teck Resources Limited Class A
[{"type":"text","content":"\nStumbling finish for stocks\n\nU.S. consumer confidence down\n Feb. 10, 2009 (Baystreet.ca) -- 04:33 pm EST\nEquity markets limped to the finish the Friday before a long weekend in both Toronto and New York, in part due to apprehension that a remedy for the world financial system may not be at hand. The S&P TSX Composite Index finished a wild week down 109.02 to 8,669.72. Toronto markets are closed for the Family Day holiday Monday. Investors are hopeful that economic leaders from the United States, Canada, Japan and other industrialized nations will come up with clear, specific ways to repair the global financial system at their meeting this weekend.Officials from the Group of Seven, gathering in Rome on Friday, plan to discuss new rules for financial markets, as well as concerns about protectionist measures in stimulus plans.Investors have been discouraged most of the week since U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner revealed plans to assess financial institutions' health and remove their toxic assets with the help of private investors - but gave few details about how the process would work. The market did not respond enthusiastically, either, to the $789-billion U.S. economic stimulus plan agreed to by Congress.A 74-seat Q400 Bombardier aircraft operated by Manassas, Va.-based Colgan Air crashed into a house just outside Buffalo, N.Y. Thursday night, killing all 49 people aboard and a person in the home. It was first fatal crash of a commercial airliner in the U.S. in 2 1/2 years. Bombardier Inc. has dispatched a team to the crash site and its shares were down 22 cents to $3.31.Desjardins maintained its "buy" rating on the stock with a $6.50 target price.The Toronto market's energy sector rose as oil prices headed higher after closing Thursday at a two-month low. EnCana Corp. gained $1.20 cents to $54.61.The market also found support from the base metals sector, with First Quantum Minerals ahead $2.30 to $31.15.NovaGold Resources Inc. and Teck Cominco Ltd.have a new agreement for funding their stalled Galore Creek copper-silver project in northwestern British Columbia. Nova Gold shares were up nine cents to $4.42 while Teck shares gained eight cents to $5.08.The gold sector was down. Barrick Gold Corp. faded $1.29 to $47.24.Research In Motion Ltd. was also a weight on the TSX. Its shares fell $3.33 to $59.72...