Toronto Stocks Finish Mildly Higher

Toronto Stocks Finish Mildly Higher

Thursday, December 16, 2004, 4:15 PM EST (Thomson Financial Corporate Group): Canadian issues came off of their earlier highs, as gold, energy and material issues turned sour. Meanwhile, merger news continued to dominate headlines. Closest to home, Glamis Gold launched an unsolicited US$3.38 billion takeover bid for Goldcorp. In the U.S., Johnson & Johnson is set to buy Guidant, while Symantec will acquire Veritas Software.

* The S&P/Toronto Stock Exchange Composite Index added 10.48 points, or
0.12%.

* Topping domestic merger headlines, Glamis Gold launched an unsolicited
bid to takeover Goldcorp, valuing the firm at US$17.80 a share in its
all-stock offer. Goldcorp shareholders would get 0.89 of a Glamis share
for each Goldcorp common share. As part of the deal's conditions,
Goldcorp can not enter any merger agreement with Wheaton River
Minerals.

* In the U.S., Johnson & Johnson agreed to buy Guidant for US$23.9
billion in stock and cash. In industrials, United Technologies reported
that U.K.-based Kidde accepted its previously announced unsolicited
cash offer of US$2.8 billion. Within the tech space, Symantec will
acquire Veritas Software for US$13.5 billion in stock.

* Meanwhile, gold shares and the yellow metal finished in the red, as the
greenback rose against the euro on the lower-than-expected U.S. current
account deficit.

* Oil prices finished little changed, following earlier profit-taking,
and after rallying more than 5% yesterday. Wednesday's U.S. weekly
inventory report indicated a drop in crude and heating oil stocks. In
mining reports, Aur Resources announced last night that it expects
revenue and net profits in 2005 to be slightly below this year's
results. The firm's fourth-quarter net profit is expected to be US$0.24
a share on revenues of approximately US$84.6 million. Also, Queenstake
Resources announced the discovery of a significant zone of high-grade
mineralization at Starvation Canyon.

* ConjuChem rallied, amid heavy volume, after it posted positive results
from a Phase II trial of DAC:GLP-1 in combination with Metformin in
treating Type 2 diabetes.

* Telecom stocks edged higher. BCE Inc. declined on the session, a day
after raising its dividend, but warning of lower-than-expected earnings
in 2005 and 2006. TD downgraded the stock to "hold" from "buy."
Elsewhere, Telus leapt, after it received approval to buy back up to 14
million of its common shares and up to 11.5 million of its non-voting
shares.

* Within the financial group, the Ontario Securities Commission reached a
settlement concerning market-timing allegations with AGF Funds, CI
Mutual Funds, I.G. Investment Management Ltd. and AIC LTD. The combined
total of the settlement is for C$156.5 million. In research, Bear
Stearns downgraded Manulife to "underperform" from "peer perform,"
mostly on valuation concerns. Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs reported
stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, but lower-than-
anticipated quarterly revenues.

* On the economic front, foreign investors bought C$2.24 billion worth of
Canadian securities in October, the lowest investment level in four
months. Economists expected net foreign investment of C$3.5 billion, on
average. September's figure was upwardly revised to C$7.54 billion,
which reflects the government's sale of its stake in Petro-Canada and
Air Canada's restructuring. Canadian investors were net buyers of
C$1.47 billion in foreign securities in October, down from C$4.21
billion the prior month.

* South of the border, the current account deficit widened to US$164.7
billion in the third quarter from US$164.4 billion in the second
period. Also, November housing starts fell 13.1%, following a 7.0% gain
the prior month. A 2.3% decline had been anticipated. Finally, the
Philly Fed index jumped to 29.6 in December from 20.7 the previous
month, exceeding forecasts.

-- 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 -- Dec. 16


Source: Thomson Financial Corporate Group

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


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