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North American stocks on Tuesday recovered some of the ground they lost during Monday's selloff - but failed to hold on to their highs for the day after a substantial dip in the final hour of trading.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 7608.92, up 86.90 points, or 1.2 per cent. The index fell about 116 points toward the close. The broader S&P 500 closed at 797.87, up 10.34 points, or 1.3 per cent, similarly surrendering more than half of its gains in the final hour of trading.
So, is the glass half full or half empty? Skeptics can certainly point out that there appeared to be more at work here than a shifting assessment of the global economy or corporate earnings. The latest glimpse of U.S. house prices, courtesy of the S&P Case-Shiller index, showed a drop of about 19 per cent year over year in January, slightly worse than expected. As well, the Conference Board's confidence index showed that consumers remain in the dumps.
Indeed, as some observers pointed out, the rebound in stocks may be due to nothing more than "window dressing" - that the final day of trading in the first quarter may have attracted mutual fund managers ditching their losing stocks and piling into recent winners to impress clients with their know-how.
If so, then a lot of mutual fund investors will discover that they are now the proud owners of U.S. financial stocks, many of which soared on Tuesday. Bank of America Corp. rose 13.1 per cent, Citigroup Inc. rose 9.5 per cent and JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 7 per cent. In other moves, Alcoa Inc. rose 9.7 per cent and Microsoft Corp. rose 5.1 per cent.
Still, despite a volatile rebound since early March, results for the first quarter were dismal. The Dow fell 13.3 per cent and the S&P 500 fell 11.7 per cent. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fared better, though, falling just 3.1 per cent.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed at 8720.39, up 124.17 points, or 1.4 per cent - and ended the quarter down about 3 per cent, making one of the world's best-performing major indexes.
For Tuesday's rebound, financials were the biggest movers - hey, could Prime Minister Stephen Harper's upbeat assessment of Canada's financial system be paying off? Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 3.5 per cent, Bank of Montreal rose 4.6 per cent and Sun Life Financial Inc. rose 7.8 per cent.
Energy stocks were also generally higher after the price of crude oil rebounded toward $50 (U.S.) a barrel, up $1.25. Canadian Oil Sands Trust rose 4.8 per cent and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. rose 0.3 per cent.
Copyright 2001 The Globe and Mail
RTGAM
North American stocks on Tuesday recovered some of the ground they lost during Monday's selloff - but failed to hold on to their highs for the day after a substantial dip in the final hour of trading.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 7608.92, up 86.90 points, or 1.2 per cent. The index fell about 116 points toward the close. The broader S&P 500 closed at 797.87, up 10.34 points, or 1.3 per cent, similarly surrendering more than half of its gains in the final hour of trading.
So, is the glass half full or half empty? Skeptics can certainly point out that there appeared to be more at work here than a shifting assessment of the global economy or corporate earnings. The latest glimpse of U.S. house prices, courtesy of the S&P Case-Shiller index, showed a drop of about 19 per cent year over year in January, slightly worse than expected. As well, the Conference Board's confidence index showed that consumers remain in the dumps.
Indeed, as some observers pointed out, the rebound in stocks may be due to nothing more than "window dressing" - that the final day of trading in the first quarter may have attracted mutual fund managers ditching their losing stocks and piling into recent winners to impress clients with their know-how.
If so, then a lot of mutual fund investors will discover that they are now the proud owners of U.S. financial stocks, many of which soared on Tuesday. Bank of America Corp. rose 13.1 per cent, Citigroup Inc. rose 9.5 per cent and JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 7 per cent. In other moves, Alcoa Inc. rose 9.7 per cent and Microsoft Corp. rose 5.1 per cent.
Still, despite a volatile rebound since early March, results for the first quarter were dismal. The Dow fell 13.3 per cent and the S&P 500 fell 11.7 per cent. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fared better, though, falling just 3.1 per cent.
In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed at 8720.39, up 124.17 points, or 1.4 per cent - and ended the quarter down about 3 per cent, making one of the world's best-performing major indexes.
For Tuesday's rebound, financials were the biggest movers - hey, could Prime Minister Stephen Harper's upbeat assessment of Canada's financial system be paying off? Toronto-Dominion Bank rose 3.5 per cent, Bank of Montreal rose 4.6 per cent and Sun Life Financial Inc. rose 7.8 per cent.
Energy stocks were also generally higher after the price of crude oil rebounded toward $50 (U.S.) a barrel, up $1.25. Canadian Oil Sands Trust rose 4.8 per cent and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. rose 0.3 per cent.
Copyright 2001 The Globe and Mail
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