TSX Closes 50 Points Lower; Focus on BCE, Astal Media and Progress Energy

By Midnight Trader,  October 19, 2012, 04:11:29 PM EDT

Canada's main stock market ended Friday's session down 50 points at around 12,415 - around half way between day high and low levels - amid investor concerns about M&A activity blocks after BCE's bid for Astral Media was denied by regulators yesterday, and fears spread today that a proposed deal involving Progress Energy Resources Corp will be blocked by the Canadian government.

Progress (PRQ.TO) was easily the most actively traded stock on the TSX. It fell 1% with 10 million shares traded on speculation that the Canadian government will block or delay the $5.2 billion acquisition of Progress by PETRONAS Carigali Canada Ltd. The government is reportedly due to complete its review of the proposed Progress deal Friday.

This comes after the CRTC announced after market close Thursday that it has denied BCE's (BCE.TO) application to acquire Astral Media (ACM-A.TO) for $3.4 billion. Astral was second most traded in falling 16%.

Oil futures ended the day with a 2% loss, more or less matching losses for the whole week. November crude settled Friday at US$90.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on a stronger U.S. dollar. Gold futures fell more than $20 an ounce Friday to also post a 2% loss for the week.




The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.


This article appears in: Investing, Commodities

Referenced Stocks:



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