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Canadian stocks slip
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February 16, 1999: 5:37 p.m. ET
Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver yield early gains in widespread selling
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Toronto stocks closed lower on Tuesday after reversing solid gains during the morning trading session. Reflecting events unfolding in markets south of the border, technology stocks slipped in the afternoon, while slumping gold values exacerbated the market slide.
Gold futures fell sharply with New York's Comex April contract down $3.80 an ounce to $287.40 as the U.S. dollar strengthened to a two-month high on expectations that the Japanese authorities will tolerate further weakness in the yen.
The dollar gained more than 2 percent from overnight lows after Eisuke Sakakibara, a senior Japanese Finance Ministry official, said U.S. and other G-7 countries could accept a weaker yen after last Friday's rate cut by the Bank of Japan.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's 300 Composite Index dropped 61.08 points, or 0.95 percent, to 6386.50. Volume in the broader market topped 117 million shares, while advancers lagged decliners 581 to 369 with another 296 issues unchanged.
All but two of TSE 300's 14 subgroups closed in the red, led by a 3.73 percent nosedive in the gold and precious metals sector. The metals and minerals and oil and gas sectors also tanked, shedding 2.6 and 2.2 percent, respectively.
Elsewhere in Canada, the intraday scenarios in Montreal and Vancouver unfolded in similar fashion. The benchmark Montreal Portfolio fell 19.08 points, or 0.56 percent, to 3417.82 while the Vancouver Composite dipped 2.72 points. The Portfolio was also hurt by heavy selling in the mining group.
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