Stocks sputter

Market News:
After the BellThe close: Stocks sputterRTGAMNorth America's modest rally turned south in the afternoon on Monday, leaving major indexes down slightly for the day.The S[amp]amp;P/TSX composite index closed at 14,085.85, down 18.02 points, or 0.1 per cent, sunk by the materials sub-index. Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., a materials stock, was the biggest single drag on the composite index:

Its shares fell 7.1 per cent, to $195.55, as part of a wider selloff among agriculture-themed stocks. Agrium Inc. fell 6.6 per cent.These steep losses were offset by Research In Motion Ltd., which rose 1.4 per cent, and Manulife Financial Corp., which rose 2.1 per cent. Royal Bank of Canada, which was downgraded to a "sell" recommendation by an analyst at Citigroup, fell 0.4 per cent.

The analyst believes Royal Bank will suffer another $4.2-billion in writedowns this year.After markets closed, Canadian Oil Sands Trust reported that its cash from operating activities doubled in the first quarter, to 92 cents a unit. The trust raised its quarterly distribution by 33 per cent. Its units closed at $46.32, up 91 cents.The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 12,871.75, down 20.11 points or 0.2 per cent. Microsoft Corp. fell 2.8 per cent after the deadline for Yahoo Inc. to accept its takeover offer came and went on the weekend.The broader S[amp]amp;P 500 closed at 1396.37, down 1.47 points or 0.1 per cent. Ford Motor Co. rose 9.5 per cent and Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. rose 23.2 - the result of superstars Kirk Kerkorian and Warren Buffett, respectively, moving in on the stocks.

However, Monsanto Co. fell 2.8 per cent amid rising volatility in agriculture stocks. Visa Inc. reported after markets closed that its first-quarter profit rose 28 per cent. Its adjusted net income during the quarter - the first as a publicly traded company - beat expectations by a wide margin.[amp]nbsp;[amp]nbsp;Copyright 2001 The Globe and Mail