Market closes for Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008:

 

        Close   Change  YTD    
Dow Jones       11,417.43       +68.88 or +0.61%        -13.93%
S&P 500 1,274.55        +7.85or +0.62%  -13.20%
NASDAQ  2,389.08        +4.72 or +0.20% -9.92% 
TSX COMP        13,350.14       +286.29 or +2.19%       -3.49% 
TSX VENT       1919.75            +18.02

BoC Close       Today   Previous       
Canadian $      0.9423  0.9425 
US $    1.0612  1.0610 

Euro Spot Rate  Today   Previous       
Canadian $      0.6390  0.6374 
Euro    1.5648  1.5689 
Gold    AM      PM     
London Gold Fix (US)    $806.75 $815.75

Spot Crude Oil Future(US$)      $114.98 +$0.45 or +0.39%       
Silver                 13.26            +0.22
Copper                 3.40             -0.03
Nat Gas                8.09             EVEN

News Summary:
The Toronto stock market surged almost 300 points Wednesday as investors snapped up energy stocks after U.S. inventory data showed a bigger than expected drawdown of gasoline stocks last week.

New York markets revived late in the day to move ahead as the financial sector improved despite mounting worry over mortgage backers Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and investors found some relief from an earnings report from Hewlett Packard.

Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index advanced 286.29 points to 13,350.14 with all sectors in the black. The TSX Venture Exchange gained 18.02 points to 1,919.75, while the Canadian dollar declined 0.02 of a cent at 94.23 cents US as Statistics Canada reported that June retail sales met expectations, rising 0.5% on the month.

However, analysts pointed out that all of the strength was attributable to higher prices, particularly for gasoline. The volume of retail sales actually fell 0.4% in June, with much of the weakness concentrated in the auto sector.

The agency also announced that the leading indicator, a forecast of economic activity, was unchanged for a second straight month in July.

New York's Dow Jones industrial average closed up 68.88 points to 11,417.43, helped by Hewlett-Packard which reported a 14% increase in third-quarter profit and a better than expected fourth-quarter outlook. Shares of the Dow component ran ahead $2.47 to $46.16.

The Nasdaq composite index gained 4.72 points to 2,389.08, while the S&P 500 index moved ahead 7.85 points to 1,274.54.

The TSX energy sector ran up 4.5% even as U.S. gasoline inventories dropped by six million barrels last week, about double the amount expected. But data also showed a much bigger than expected runup in oil inventories last week.

The burst in the energy sector also came amid news that Newfoundland and Labrador has given the green light to the $5-billion Hebron offshore oil project.

And there were also reports that Berskshire Hathaway head Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates were touring the oilsands around Fort Murray, Alta., earlier in the week.

The September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was volatile following the release of the supply data and closed up 45 cents to US$114.98 a barrel after going as high as US$117.03 before the release of the data and as low as US$112.61.

The Toronto financial sector moved up 1.2% after falling earlier in the morning along with U.S. financials on a growing conviction that the U.S. government will have to bail out government sponsored mortgage enterprises Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Freddie Mac shares tumbled 92 cents to US$3.25 while Fannie Mae shares plunged $1.61 to US$4.40.
The sector has been weak ahead of the release of quarterly earnings by the big Canadian banks starting next week. Scotiabank was up 70 cents to $47.80 and TD Bank was ahead 73 cents to $59.73.

On the TSX, advances beat declines 868 to 671 with 202 unchanged as 331.3 million shares traded worth $6.4 billion. (THE CANADIAN PRESS)

TSX
Most Active

                                               
YRI     Yamana Gold Inc 11.17   +0.13   +1.18%  8,149,396      
ELR     Eastern Platinum Ltd    1.49    +0.13   +9.56%  6,287,725      
G       Goldcorp Inc    34.35   +0.72   +2.14%  5,904,461      
UTS     UTS Energy Corp 4.09    +0.18   +4.60%  5,554,966      
BBD.B   Bombardier Inc  7.51    +0.29   +4.02%  5,137,972      
SU      Suncor Energy Inc       59.89   +3.62   +6.43%  4,973,859      
RCI.B   Rogers Communications Inc       36.12   +1.25   +3.58%  4,881,499      
CNQ     Canadian Natural Resources Ltd  88.40   +6.13   +7.45%  4,716,175      
K       Kinross Gold Corp       16.69   +0.06   +0.36%  4,509,153      
ECA     EnCana Corp     76.12   +3.85   +5.33%  4,363,605      
ABX     Barrick Gold Corp       35.70   +0.18   +0.51%  4,337,933      
TLM     Talisman Energy Inc     18.61   +0.62   +3.45%  4,165,930      
NXY     Nexen Inc       32.74   +1.57   +5.04%  4,147,429      
OIL     Oilexco Inc.    13.55   +0.10   +0.74%  3,972,394      
TD      Toronto Dominion Bank   59.73   +0.73   +1.24%  3,733, 

TSX Venture:

                                               
VST     Vast Exploration Inc    0.66    +0.13   +24.53%         4,372,670      
CLI     Clearford Industries Inc        0.30    +0.05   +20.00%         4,000,000      
KWG     KWG Resources Inc       0.04    -0.01   -12.50%         3,990,550      
MAA     MagIndustries Corp      2.04    +0.34   +20.00%         3,913,744      
BDO     Bordeaux Energy Inc     0.03    +0.01   +25.00%         2,741,800      
ROH     Rochester Energy Corp   0.08    +0.02   +23.08%         2,510,500      
BRS     Bonanza Resources Corp  0.13    +0.03   +25.00%         2,367,500      
JML     J.A.G. Ltee (Les Mines) 0.36    +0.11   +44.00%         2,301,300      
SOR     Solana Resources Ltd    4.15    0.00    0.00%   2,194,610      
LST.H   Landmark Global Financial Corp  0.04    0.00    0.00%   1,294,159      
BMC     Brillant Mining Corp    0.37    -0.01   -2.63%  1,225,700      
CML     Crowflight Minerals Inc 0.30    -0.02   -6.25%  1,138,700      
SPQ     Spider Resources Inc    0.06    +0.01   +9.09%  1,093,330      
SD      Sidon International Corp        0.11    +0.01   +10.00%         1,050,850      
BTP     Beartooth Platinum Corp 0.05    -0.01   -10.00%         1,044,000      

Trading Halts/Resumptions:
Trading Halt/ Trade Resumption - Clifton Star Resources Inc. - CFO
Trade Resumption - Adriana Res Inc. - ADI
Trade Resumption - Victory Nickel Inc. - NI
Trade Resumption - Independent Nickel Corp. - INI

New Listings:
Fortriu Capital Corp To Trade On TSX Venture Exchange, CPC, FTC.P ,two million common shares at 10 cents per share, At the opening Aug. 21, 2008, the common shares will commence trading on the TSX Venture Exchange

 

Sources include Advisors.ca, tmxmoney.com, Canadian Press, Yahoo Finance,
Stockhouse.com , Canoe.ca