A.M. market numbers: August 19, 2009

| North American markets | International markets | Bonds | Currency | Commodities |

The Toronto stock market looked set for a lower open Wednesday following steep declines on Asian markets overnight, reflecting investor worries that the long-running rally that started late last winter has run its course for the time being.

In Shanghai, the main index plunged over 5% at one point before closing down 125.30 points, or 4.3%, to 2,785.58.

China’s benchmark index has lost nearly 20% since Aug. 4 on worries about corporate profits, the strength of China’s recovery and possible changes in Beijing’s easy credit policy that has helped to fuel the bull run in Chinese stocks this year.

U.S. futures also signalled a negative opening with the Dow industrial futures off 70 points to 9,137, the Nasdaq futures retreated 15 points to 1,572 and the S&P 500 futures down 8.3 points to 981.3.

The Toronto market registered a 142-point gain Tuesday, clawing back a chunk of Monday’s slide of more than 300 points which was sparked by data late last week showing dismal retail sales in July and deteriorating consumer confidence.

The TSX is up about 40% since early March on rising hopes for a strong economic recovery. But the U.S. consumer makes up 70% of the American economy and signs of continuing weakness at the consumer level have suggested that the rally is looking stretched and a correction is in the offing.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.53 to 90.23 cents US as Statistics Canada reported that prices fell during July on an annual basis and on a month-to-month basis, dipping 0.3% from June. Canada’s annual inflation rate slid to the lowest level in 56 years last month, as overall prices fell 0.9% from where they stood last July.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average lost 0.8% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.7%.

London’s FTSE 100 index dipped 0.45%, and the Frankfurt DAX and Paris CAC 40 backed off about 0.6%.

The Toronto market could also be under additional stress from falling commodity prices.

The September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange lost 43 cents to US$68.76 a barrel.

The December bullion contract in New York faded $1.70 to US$937.50 an ounce while September copper fell five cents to US$2.71 a pound.

In earnings news, Hewlett-Packard Co.’s quarterly profit dropped 19% to US$1.64 billion, in large part due to ongoing weakness in sales of PCs and printer ink. Still, HP edged past Wall Street’s profit and sales forecasts.

Farm equipment maker Deere & Co. says its fiscal third-quarter profit fell 27% to US$420 million as the global recession continued to depress sales, but the results easily beat Wall Street expectations. Revenue dropped 24% to US$5.89 billion, topping analysts’ estimates of US$5.25 million.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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Dow Jones	9,217.94	+82.60 or +0.90%	+5.03%
S&P 500	989.67	+9.94 or +1.01%	+9.57%
NASDAQ	1,955.92	+25.08 or +1.30%	+24.03%
TSX Composite	10,673.84	+142.25 or +1.35%	+18.76%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,204.00	-80.96 or -0.79%	+15.18%
Hang Seng	19,954.23	-352.04 or -1.73%	+38.69%
SENSEX	14,809.64	-225.62 or -1.50%	+53.51%
FTSE 100	4,665.83	-19.95 or -0.43%	+5.22%
CAC 40	3,438.42	-12.27 or -0.36%	+6.85%
DAX	5,222.89	-27.85 or -0.53%	+8.58%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	102.77	102.90	3.41
Cdn. 30-year bond	118.54	118.87	3.90
U.S. 10-year bond	100.92	101.31	3.51
U.S. 30-year bond	103.44	103.09	4.35

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9023	0.9076
US $	1.1082	1.1018

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6382	0.6424
Euro	1.5668	1.5567

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$ 934.25	$935.00

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$68.86	-$0.33 or -0.48%

(08/19/09)