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Reuters Canada Business Summary

19/08/08

Oil falls below $112 after storm moves on

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices fell to around $112 on Tuesday after a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico avoided oil and gas installations. U.S. crude was 71 cents lower at $112.16 a barrel by 0916 GMT. London Brent crude fall 73 cents to $111.21.

Toronto stocks creep higher as resources get boost

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index finished slightly higher on Monday as a rise in resource shares offset nagging fears of more fallout from the credit crunch. In choppy action, the materials sector was lifted 2 percent by gold producers, which rose along with bullion prices and helped to put a floor under the benchmark index.

Q2 foreign buys of Canada securities hit record

(Reuters) - Foreign purchases of Canadian securities hit a record C$27.64 billion ($26.08 billion) in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said on Monday. Second quarter bond purchases of C$19.56 billion were the highest since the fourth quarter of 2001's C$23.76 billion. For June, foreigners bought C$7.25 billion of Canadian securities. Canadians sold C$9.50 billion of foreign securities in June in the face of lackluster global equity markets and a deteriorating U.S. credit market, the government agency said. ($1=$1.06 Canadian)

GM returns to employee pricing to lift sales

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp , aiming to boost sagging sales, rolled out a major promotion for U.S. dealers on Monday that includes employee-level discounts on almost all the Chevrolet cars and trucks in its showrooms. The discount offer takes effect on Wednesday and marks GM's return to a strategy it had abandoned in the last two years in an effort to make its pricing more transparent and to wean American consumers from fire-sale blowout deals.

RIM's BlackBerry Bold to hit Canada on Thursday

TORONTO (Reuters) - Rogers Communications Inc , the owner of Canada's biggest wireless carrier, will start offering Research In Motion Ltd's new BlackBerry Bold on Thursday, the telecom firm said. The Bold is RIM's most advanced smartphone to date and is the first BlackBerry to support high-speed HSDPA cellular networks. It comes with integrated GPS, Wi-Fi and a host of multimedia features.

Newfoundland, Chevron near deal on Hebron: report

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - The government of Newfoundland is set to finalize a deal with Chevron Corp this week to develop the C$6 billion ($5.7 billion) offshore Hebron oil field, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported on Monday. The signing of formal terms of the agreement would come a year after Premier Danny Williams and Chevron and its partners agreed to a memorandum of understanding that gave Newfoundland a 4.9 percent stake in the field for C$110 million.

Canada ABCP plan upheld, but appeal possible

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a lower court's approval of a restructuring plan for asset-backed commercial paper, putting investors a step closer to recovering at least some of the C$32 billion ($30.2 billion) the securities were worth before the market froze a year ago. The unanimous ruling of three judges, released on Monday, is a blow to corporate noteholders who had objected to the restructuring plan for nonbank-sponsored commercial paper, known as ABCP.

Stocks tumble on Fannie, Freddie worries

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks sank on Monday as the prospect of more losses from the mortgage crisis hurt the shares of banks and the two biggest home finance providers, pushing all three major indexes down about 1.5 percent. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shed more than 20 percent each after Barron's reported that the U.S. Treasury may need to bail out the home finance giants, which could wipe out shareholders and effectively nationalize the government-sponsored enterprises.

Fairborne Energy shares rise on Alberta gas find

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Fairborne Energy Ltd shares rose as much as 22 percent on Monday after the company detailed a prolific natural gas discovery in Alberta. Shares of the junior oil and gas producer were up C$1.25 to C$11.44 late in the morning on the Toronto Stock Exchange after earlier touching C$12.48. Volume was 1.05 million shares, more than twice the 90-day average.

Canadian dollar falls with oil prices, bonds rise

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar fell 0.5 percent against the U.S. dollar on Monday, after the commodity-based currency gave up earlier gains as oil prices softened. Domestic bond prices rose along with the U.S. market, which rallied on fears coming out of the U.S. mortgage sector.

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