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Stocks flat at noon(Baystreet Stock Market Update (Canada) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Takeovers in picture The Toronto stock market was little changed Wednesday amid rising oil prices while investors take in some major deal-making in the tech and resource sectors. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 11.87 points by lunch hour to 13,326.54 The Canadian dollar spiked 0.19 cents to 105.45 cents U.S. Microsemi Corp. has made a $548.7-million U.S. hostile takeover offer for Zarlink Semiconductor. The U.S. semiconductor company said it has tried to launch private talks with Zarlink executives several times, including two written proposals made as recently as a month ago, and all of them were rejected without discussion. Microsemi's latest offer works out to $3.35 a share, a 40% premium to Tuesday's closing price and its shares jumped 52% to $3.63. Chinese oil company CNOOC Ltd. is buying struggling Calgary-based oilsands producer Opti Canada Inc. for $2.1 billion. The announcement comes a week after Opti Canada filed for a court-supervised restructuring designed to transfer ownership of the oilsands developer to creditors. The TSX said it was reviewing the company's listing and suspended the shares from trading. And Ensign Energy Services Inc. said it has agreed to acquire the land drilling division of Rowan Companies Inc. for $510 million, plus working capital. Ensign shares gained 48 cents to $19.87. The TSX tech sector was lower with shares in Apple rival Research In Motion Ltd. down 67 cents to $24.77. In the energy sector, Suncor Energy gained 19 cents to $38.58. The gold sector fell as Barrick Gold Corp. declined 36 cents to $45.85. The September copper contract on the Nymex dipped three cents to $4.44 U.S. a pound. The base metals sector was off as First Quantum fell $1.53 to $136.98. In other corporate developments, American Airlines is buying at least 460 new planes over the next five years. It will split the order between aerospace giants Boeing and Airbus. The airline expects the new, better-mileage planes will save money on fuel and provide more enticing amenities to passengers. Boeing shares were up 48 cents to $71.01 U.S., Canadian transportation giant Bombardier Inc. lost 11 cents to $6.33 while American parent AMR gained nine cents to $5.02 U.S. On the economic slate, wholesale sales increased 1.9% to $47.6 billion in May, following a 0.1% decline in April, according to figures released this morning by Statistics Canada. ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange moved forward 15.37 points to 2,008.84, while the Nasdaq Canada index was lower by 0.02 points to 550.18 In Toronto, eight of the 14 subgroups were higher by noon, gold and materials ahead 0.5% each, while metals and mining up 0.4%. The half-dozen laggards were weighed by telecoms, off 0.8%, industrials, down 0.7% and consumer discretionaries, fading 0.4%. ON WALLSTREET In New York, stocks continued uncertainly, with the debt debate raging and stocks unable to hold the gains they attained the day before. The Dow Jones Industrials gave back 22.40 points to 12,565, with United Technologies and Microsoft dragging on the blue chip index. Boeing and Bank of America were the biggest gainers The S&P 500 shed 1.75 points to 1,324.98, and the Nasdaq Composite Index moved lower by 15.90 points to 2,810.62 The market's softness came after U.S. stocks surged Tuesday, with the Dow staging its strongest one-day rally of the year, after President Obama indicated he would support a plan to raise the debt ceiling that had been floated by a bipartisan group of senators. But investors remain cautious amid concerns that the Gang of Six's plan may not have enough time or support to make it through Congressional negotiations to increase the debt ceiling by Aug. 2. Apple reported blowout earnings after the bell Tuesday -- hitting all-time highs with its quarterly profit and revenue, with iPhone and iPad sales. Shares of Apple rose 3%. Yahoo was among weakest performers on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, with shares falling 7%. The company reported weakness in display and search revenue, as well as a lower-than-expected outlook in its second-quarter earnings report Tuesday. After the bell, Dow components American Express and chipmaker Intel will issue their quarterly results. Meanwhile, real estate site Zillow made its public debut on the Nasdaq on Wednesday under the ticker "Z." The company's stock soared 120%. American Airlines announced a plan Wednesday to replace one of the largest commercial airline fleets, with hundreds of new leased airplanes from Boeing and Airbus. Shares of AMR Corp., the parent company for American Airlines, rose 2%. Economically speaking, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales declined 0.8% in June to an annual rate of 4.77 million. The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury dropped, pushing the yield up to 2.91% from 2.89% late Tuesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions Oil for August delivery regained 61 cents to $98.11 U.S. a barrel. Gold futures for August delivery dropped $5.30 to $1,595.80 U.S. an ounce. © 1998 - 2011 Baystreet.ca Media Corp. All rights reserved. |