Wednesday erases Tuesday

Wednesday erases Tuesday

Canadian stocks rebounded strongly on Wednesday in a widespread rally that lifted nine of the 10 subindexes in the benchmark indicator and erased all but 43 points of the sharp downturn on Tuesday.The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 13,453.51, up 211.31 points, or 1.6 per cent.

Research In Motion Ltd. was the big winner, rising 5 per cent and adding 29 points to the index, even though there was little news for the BlackBerry maker other than one analyst upgrade. More likely, it was caught up in investor enthusiasm for other big-name technology stocks after Cisco Systems Inc.'s strong fourth quarter results on Tuesday.As well, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. rose 4.9 per cent after rival fertilizer company Agrium Inc. released upbeat second quarter results and reminded investors that profits in this sector are booming. Energy stocks rose 2.3 per cent.In the United States, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at 11,656.07, up 40.3 points, or 0.4 per cent.

The broader S&P 500 closed at 1289.19, up 4.31 points, or 0.3 per cent.While that might sound like a defeat after Tuesday's rip-roaring rally, it represents a strong turnaround from earlier losses. Investors were initially put off stocks after Freddie Mac reported dismal earnings that suggested more mayhem for financial firms. In the end, though, investors decided to reserve their venom for Freddie Mac (and its cousin, Fannie Mae) and leave most of the rest of the market alone.

Freddie Mac shares plunged 19.3 per cent and Fannie Mae shares fell 14.7 per cent.The big winners for the day were the technology stocks, following better-than-expected results from Cisco Systems on Tuesday. Cisco rose 5.7 per cent, Microsoft Corp. rose 3.1 per cent and Apple Inc. rose 2.2 per cent.Copyright 2001 The Globe and Mail