Investors were harder to impress on Tuesday

Barely budging

RTGAM

Investors were harder to impress on Tuesday, the day after an impressive stock market rally took North American indexes to their highest levels in six months.


As a result, major stock market indexes treaded water, even as the National Association of Realtors reported that pending home sales jumped 6.7 per cent in April, well ahead of expectations and another suggestion that the U.S. housing market might be forming a bottom.


If there were any celebrations, they were quiet. The Dow Jones industrial average - limping along with 29 stocks, rather than usual 30, because of the demise of General Motors Corp. - closed at 8740.87, up 19.43 points or 0.2 per cent. The broader S&P 500 - er, S&P 499 - closed at 944.74, up 1.87 points or 0.2 per cent.


Financials were mostly lower, with Citigroup Inc. down 4.9 per cent and JPMorgan Chase & Co. down 4.5 per cent. Technology stocks were also generally weaker, with International Business Machines Corp. down 1.4 per cent and Intel Corp. down 1.9 per cent.


However, Alcoa Inc. rose 7 per cent and Boeing Co. rose 3.1 per cent. Toll Brothers Inc., the homebuilding company, rose 3.9 per cent.


In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index closed at 10,588.79, down 15.27 points or 0.1 per cent.
Energy stocks were a drag on the index, even though the price of crude oil remained relatively steady at $68.55 (U.S.) a barrel. Suncor Energy Inc. fell 5.2 per cent and Talisman Energy Inc. fell 3.4 per cent.


However, gold producers helped pick up some of the slack after the price of gold rose to $984.40 an ounce, up $4.40. Barrick Gold Corp. rose 1.7 per cent and Goldcorp Inc. rose 3.1 per cent.

Copyright 2001 The Globe and Mail