Canadian Shares Continue to Trade in Tight Range

Canadian Shares Continue to Trade in Tight Range

Tuesday, November 30, 2004, 10:15 AM EST (Thomson Financial Corporate Group): The Canadian market is little changed, ahead of the quarterly releases from financial heavyweights Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Nova Scotia, due out later today. Gold stocks are tumbling, partly due to pressure from Barrick Gold, which received a downgrade from UBS. Meanwhile, the domestic GDP report was somewhat disappointing.

* The S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange Composite Index is falling 4.84 points,
or 0.05%.

* Yesterday, the S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange Composite Index slipped 1.56
points, or 0.02%.

* In economic headlines, the gross domestic product advanced by a
slower-than-expected annual rate of 3.2% in the third quarter from a
downwardly revised 3.9% rate in the prior quarter. Economists expected
3.5% growth in the most recently reported quarter. There was no growth
recorded in September; however, analysts expected GDP to edge up 0.1%
for the month.

* South of the border, the preliminary third-quarter GDP was revised to
3.9% from 3.7% in the prior reading. Analysts had expected GDP to
remain unchanged. Separately, consumer confidence unexpectedly fell to
90.5 in November from a revised 92.9 reading in October. Also, the
Chicago PMI fell to 65.2 in November from 68.5 the prior month.

* Gold shares are tumbling this morning, despite continued weakness in
the greenback versus the euro. The industry is being pressured by
Barrick Gold, which was downgraded by UBS to "neutral" from "buy," due
to the stock's 21% appreciation over the past two months. The brokerage
also raised the gold miner's price target to US$27.50 from US$26.50. In
corporate reports, South Africa's Gold Fields and Iamgold agreed to cut
the cash contribution from Gold Fields in their proposed merger deal.
Gold Fields also said that it has about 20% support for the merger with
Iamgold after revising the terms of the deal.

* Elsewhere, oil prices are hovering around the US$50-a-barrel mark, as
traders consider the effects of production outages in the North Sea.
Separately, Breakwater Resources is active this morning, after
announcing last night that its president and chief executive, Colin K.
Benner, will step down December 23. The mining firm named current
chairman Garth A. C. MacRae as interim president and CEO.

* In staple earnings, Coolbrands International said that its
fourth-quarter profit arrived at C$0.26 a share from C$0.27 a share a
year earlier. The firm's revenue jumped 16% to C$178.7 million. For the
fiscal year, Coolbrands' profit rose to C$0.87 a share from C$0.59 a
share the prior year.

* Turning to the technology sector, Nortel Networks said that it will ask
an Ontario court to allow it to delay its 2004 annual meeting until no
later than March 31, 2005.

* Bombardier is weighing on the industrial sector. Standard & Poor's
Ratings Services lowered its ratings on Bombardier Inc. and its
subsidiaries due to weak prospects for some of its key business
segments.

-- Linda.Shea@thomson.com; Thomson Financial Corporate Group



This is Thomson Financial Corporate Group's Canadian Commentary, which is updated twice daily. The information herein is believed to be true and accurate, we take no responsibility for inaccurate information and reserve the right to update our reports. For more financial information at your fingertips, please visit http://www.irchannel.com/. If you have any questions please e-mail James Sang at james.sang@tfn.com or call 646.822.6233. For more information about Thomson Financial visit us on-line at http://www.thomsonfinancial.com/.

PRNewswire -- Nov. 30


Source: Thomson Financial Corporate Group

Web site: http://www.thomsonfinancial.com/
http://www.irchannel.com/


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