Money world

The Toronto Stock Exchange ended the session in positive territory yesterday after a volatile week of trading on uncertain oil prices and jitters about the future of the U.S. financial industry.

Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index rose 156.82 points to 12,769.58.

The loonie closed at 94.24 cents (U.S.), up 1.35 cents, after hitting a 13-month low on Thursday.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange light, sweet crude for October delivery rose 31 cents to settle at $101.18 a barrel, after briefly sinking to $99.99 as refineries in the Gulf of Mexico battened down the hatches over concern about the impact of hurricane Ike.

Crude oil on the futures market briefly sank below the psychologically important $100 a barrel mark for the first time since April 2 – suggesting that investors believe a worsening global economy will continue to drive down demand for some time in the United States and elsewhere.

Falling crude prices have battered Canada’s main stock index, which is heavily weighted to oil, gas and commodity companies, as higher prices contribute to declining energy use.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 11.72 points to 11,421.99 as disappointing economic data on U.S http://payday-z.com. retail sales and nervousness over the health of financials made investors jittery.

The Nasdaq rose 3.05 points to 2,261.27, while the S&P 500 index was up 2.65 points to 1,251.70.

The TSX Venture Exchange was up 43.71 points at 1,607.53.

On the TSX, the financial and IT sectors created the biggest drag, each falling more than 1 per cent.

TD Bank was off by 56 cents (Canadian) to $62.29 while Research In Motion was down 4.7 per cent at $112.36.

The gold sector rose more than 9 per cent as the December bullion contract on the Nymex rose $19 to $764.50 (U.S.) an ounce and Goldcorp rose 14.5 per cent to $31.36 (Canadian).

And Prime Minister Stephen Harper said a re-elected Conservative government would make it easier for foreign companies to buy parts of Canadian firms.

The Tories would increase the allowed level of foreign investment in airlines to 49 per cent from the current 25 and allow foreign companies to own Canadian uranium mines.

The Canadian Press

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