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Toronto stocks end flat
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December 9, 1998: 5:10 p.m. ET
Gaining sectors barely outnumber losers, with oil, gold stocks capping gains
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Toronto stocks flattened Wednesday in mixed trading as the market struggled for direction.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's 300 Composite Index rose a mere 6.53 points, or 0.10 percent, to close at 6,406.30.
One factor putting a crimp in trade, players said, was a weak showing by Brazilian stocks, which fell 0.74 percent.
Traders said activity was relatively quiet and uneventful but that they expected increased activity as portfolio managers inject money into the market before year-end.
"I think basically we're going to see some money coming into the market near the end of the year because there's a lot of cash in positions. Right now the traders own the markets," said David Jarvis, a liability trader at Levesque Beaubien Geoffrion.
A slim majority of the Toronto exchange's 14 subindexes posted gains, boosted by a 0.97 percent rise in conglomerates and a 0.75 percent climb in utilities.
Counteracting the gainers' effects was a 1.21 percent decline in gold and precious metals and a 0.74 percent drop in the oil and gas sector.
Among volume leaders, Sun Media Corp. rose C$2.10, or 11.17 percent, to C$20.90, a day after it said its board of directors had agreed to a C$21 per share all-cash takeover bid by Montreal-based Quebecor Inc., fending off an earlier hostile bid by Torstar Corp. of C$19.34 a share.
Several energy stocks that were actively traded took a beating. Kookaburra plummeted C$0.78, or 43.82 percent, to C$1.00; Elk Point Resources tumbled C$1.65, or 35 percent, to C$3.25; and Canadian 88 Energy Corp. dropped C$0.15, or 2.97 percent, to C$4.90. But Pacalta Resources proved the exception, jumping C$0.25, or 5.68 percent, to C$4.65.
Elsewhere in the country, stocks on the Montreal Exchange pared losses to close up 1.52 points, or 0.05 percent, to 3,331.90. In Vancouver, shares rose 4.85 points, or 1.27 percent, to 387.52. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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