Daily Wrap-up: Oil gains, gold slides further

Oil gains, gold slides further... OSC offers $5 million for whistleblowers... Energy firms must be better at leak detection says regulator... Financial confidence down among young Canadians...

Steve Randall
Oil gains, gold slides further
Equities were broadly higher Thursday as investors weighed potential stimulus measures for Japan and the UK in the near future and oil prices recovered some lost ground.

Oil’s gains came even though concerns remain that global demand is weakening while supply remains high. Gold prices declined further as risk-taking investors pulled back from safer bets.

The main TSX index advanced as energy and financial stocks led the gains.

Wall Street saw strong gains with the Dow closing at a new record high after 5 straight positive sessions.

Asian markets closed mostly higher along with those in Europe, although London’s FTSE slipped back as the BoE announced a hold on interest rates.
 
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 20.72 (0.14 per cent)
The Dow Jones closed up 134.3 (0.73 per cent)
Oil is trending higher (Brent $47.15, WTI $45.51 at 4.30pm)
Gold is trending lower (1334.20 at 4.30pm)
The loonie is valued at U$0.7754
 
OSC offers $5 million for whistleblowers
Those who report crimes in Ontario securities market could be awarded as much as $5 million under a new whistleblowers program. The Ontario Securities Commission unveiled the scheme Thursday which chairman and CEO Maureen Jensen said should "Significantly enhance our ability to protect investors and to ensure fairness in the market.”

The 6-figure reward takes into consideration the amount of fines and voluntary payments that the OSC is able to collect from those found guilty of wrongdoing such as insider trading and manipulation of the markets.
 
Energy firms must be better at leak detection says regulator
Pipeline operators must be better at detecting leaks, the Alberta Energy Regulator said Thursday. It reported that of 23 major spills it investigated, detection failed due to weak training or monitoring. In some cases it took 48 days for companies to fix leaking pipelines.
 
Financial confidence down among young Canadians
Young Canadians are becoming less confident that they will achieve their financial goals according to CIBC.

Its quarterly poll of consumer confidence found that 72 per cent of millennials and 66 per cent of Gen-Xers think they will reach their goals; both groups’ figures fell 12 percentage points. Baby boomers were more confident though with a 3-point rise to 82 per cent.
 

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