Stocks take breather

About this update from Acadian Timber Corp.

T.O. weighed by metals, industrials Jan. 5, 2010 (Baystreet.ca) -- Toronto stocks may struggle to extend their recent gains on Tuesday and moved in a narrow range at the open. The prices of commodities are also pausing for a breather, after a good runup on Monday. The S&P/TSX Composite Index docked 10.66 points, or 1%, to 11,856.24. In the commodities markets, gold edged up marginally, while oil was trading almost flat ahead of API inventory data. The Canadian market had a nice run in the previous session as widespread buying lifted the main index to a 15-month high. Oil and gold prices had moved higher on encouraging manufacturing data from the U.S. and China. In corporate news, Credit Suisse raised Potash Corp. rating to "outperform" with a price target of $129, citing demand pickup among farmers. In brokerage update, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Research in Motion with an "overweight" rating. Health care provider Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. said it has advised its shareholders not to respond to an unsolicited below market "mini-tender" offer from TRC Capital Corp. to purchase up to two million common shares. Networking solutions provider RuggedCom Inc. said it has received purchase orders worth over $2.1 million for a wind power application in China. Forest product dealer Acadian Timber said it would pay one time dividend of 1.7 cents a share on January 29 and start paying five cents a share beginning next quarter. On the economic front, Statistics Canada revealed Tuesday that rising oil and metal prices helped Canada's Industrial Product Price Index and Raw Material Price Index to gain 1.0% and 2.2%, respectively, in November. The Canadian dollar gained 0.35 cents to 96.36 cents U.S. ON BAYSTREET Of the 14 TSX subgroups, losers nosed out gainers seven to six. Consumer discretionaries vied with metals and mining stocks for the biggest loss at 0.4% each, while industrials were off 0.3%. The half-dozen gainers were spirited ahead by global base metals, up 0.7%, materials, ahead 0.6%, and real-estate, up 0.3%. Telecoms were flat to begin the day. The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 4.08 points to 1,548.01, while the Nasdaq Canada index moved forward 7.97 points to 733.53. ON WALLSTREET Stocks started out lower Tuesday, following a start-of-the-year runup on economic optimism. The Dow Jones Industrials settled back 35.90 points to 10,548.06. The broader S&P 500 was down 1.45 points to 1,131.54, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 2.37 points to 2,306.05. Stocks surged Monday to start the New Year after a report showed improvement in the manufacturing sector and a weak dollar propelled commodity prices. All three major indexes rose between 1.5% and 1.7% and closed at 15-month highs. After the market opens, a National Association of Realtors' report was expected to show pending home sales fell 2% in November, according to a consensus of economists surveyed by Briefing.com. Also at 10 a.m. ET, a report was expected to show factory orders increased by 0.5% in November, after jumping 0.6% the previous month, according to the Briefing consensus. Later, December data will be released for auto and truck sales by individual manufacturers. In company news, Google is expected to unveil its Nexus One on Tuesday, the much anticipated smart phone designed by the Internet search leader. Google shares were slightly higher in premarket trading. Also, Apple is expected to ship its long-awaited tablet computer in March, after a Jan. 27 unveiling, according to the Wall Street Journal. Kraft Foods said Tuesday it has agreed to sell its frozen pizza business to the Swiss food company Nestle for $3.7 billion U.S. in cash, using the proceeds to raise its previously announced $16-billion U.S. bid for British candy maker Cadbury. Kraft's frozen pizza brands include Tombstone, DiGiorno and California Pizza Kitchen. Kraft also extended the deadline for its Cadbury offer to Feb. 2. Shares of Kraft, a Dow component, were little changed in premarket trading. Treasury prices gained, lowering yields on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.78% from Monday's 3.82%. Prices and yields move in opposite directions. The price of a barrel of oil inched a nickel higher to $81.56 U.S. Gold prices gained two dollars to $1,121 an ounce U.S.

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