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Americas stocks end higher
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March 17, 1998: 6:09 p.m. ET
Toronto ekes out another record but oil-heavy Venezuela sinks again
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Stocks ended higher throughout the Americas Tuesday after a shaky morning start, although volumes were lackluster and bullish traders took their direction from Wall Street's round of selling off post-record gains.
A steep drop in the gold sector caused Toronto stocks to slip at the open, but the market regained its balance to push marginally higher to a new record.
The Toronto Stock Exchange 300 Composite Index climbed 12.52 points, 0.17 percent, to close at 7,440.40.
Volume was a modest 98 million shares worth C$2 billion.
In New York trading, the Dow Jones industrial average ended up 31.14 points at reach 8.749.99, its second lifetime close above the key 8,700 point.
"The market has had quite a good run and I think some people are just standing around waiting to see where the next move is going to take them" said Fred Ketchen, director of equity trading at ScotiaMcLeod. "Until that develops, they'll just take it easy for a while. There's a lot of locked-in profits and at some point people will decide to take them out."
Overall in Toronto, 10 of the TSE 300's 14 sub-indexes opened in negative territory led by a large drop in the gold and precious minerals sector. The influential gold group fell 1.4 percent in morning trading as the April price for gold on COMEX dropped $1 to $294.10.
Other resource-based stocks also slumped, but the heavily weighted financial services sector and industrial products group made up for the losses with strong jumps.
Latin winners
The Mexican bourse reversed initial losses Tuesday as an early afternoon buying spurt swayed a thin-volume market, dealers said.
Bottom fishing amid speculation interest rates may rise less than originally feared at Tuesday's auction inspired buyers, they added. "They're gambling on rates not going up by quite so much this afternoon, and a technical breakout by Telmex in New York is doing the rest," a desk trader said.
The leading IPC index was up 60.45 points, or 1.28 percent, at 4,784.29. Volume was thin, but accelerated after mid-session, traders said.
"We've had some interesting buy orders in the last hour, but volume is still thin so we need to see whether this is more than a sprint by a couple of players," one dealer said.
Brazilian stocks surged, with the Bovespa gaining 207 points, 1.79 percent, to end the day at 11,808.
Oil and metal bring Caracas low
Venezuelan stocks slipped 2.38 percent as oil prices slumped to their lowest levels since November 1988.
The 15-stock IBC index fell 176.50 points to close at 7,225.42 in light volume.
Jose Gregorio Tineo, a trader at Capitales Noroco, said oil prices were the main bearish impulse, although the withdrawal of one consortium from the forthcoming privatization of Venezuela's aluminum industry was another negative influence.
Oil prices have slumped 40 percent in five months and analysts see no end in sight for the worldwide crude oil glut.
Tineo said there was some uncertainty surrounding the aluminum sector after one of three groups backing the privatization effort withdrew Tuesday, citing an excessive base price and legal uncertainties. 
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