A.M. market numbers: August 26, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market could be headed for a lower open as CIBC reported earnings that fell short of expectations while oil prices declined.

CIBC reported net earnings of $434 million or $1.02 per share for the quarter ended July 31, up sharply from profits of $71 million or $1.02 per share booked a year ago.

CIBC booked adjusted earnings of $1.36 per share, which fell three cents short of forecasts from Thomson Reuters. Provision for credit losses was $547 million, up from $203 million in the same quarter a year ago.

The TSX ran up 131 points Tuesday, led by a rally in the financial sector after Bank of Montreal turned in earnings which beat expectations.

The October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was off 21 cents to US$71.84 after tumbling more than $2 on Tuesday, weighed down by concerns over slowing demand in the United States, the world’s largest energy consumer.

Victor Shum, an energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore, said a report by the American Petroleum Institute showed a substantial gain of 4.3 million barrels in crude oil inventories for the week ended Aug. 21.

"The momentum in the oil rally has certainly been broken. We are seeing a well-deserved correction right now and could see oil prices fall below US$70 a barrel in the coming weeks," Shum said.

The Canadian dollar continued to lose ground in the wake of a warning by the Bank of Canada that it is prepared to intervene to ensure the Canadian dollar doesn’t continue its recent rise.

Bank deputy governor Timothy Lane said the economy is in the midst of staging a comeback, but that a persistently strong loonie could restrain a recovery. On Wednesday, the currency was down 0.37 of a cent to 91.73 cents US after falling three quarters of a cent on Tuesday.

American stock futures were lower ahead of economic data later in the morning. The Dow Jones industrial futures were down seven points at 9,516, the Nasdaq futures were off 2.25 p 1/8points to 1,634.25 and the S&P 500 futures slipped 1.9 points to 1,024.2.

Traders are awaiting a U.S. Commerce Department report that is expected to show durable goods orders likely grew in July. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predict orders to U.S. factories for items expected to last at least three years increased 3% in July, due in part to increased auto sales from the government’s Cash for Clunkers program. Orders dipped 2.2% in June amid slowing commercial aircraft orders.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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Dow Jones	9,539.29	+30.01 or +0.32%	+8.69%
S&P 500	1,028.00	+2.43 or +0.24%	+13.81%
NASDAQ	2,024.23	+6.25 or +0.31%	+28.36%
TSX Composite	10,920.53	+130.56 or +1.21%	+21.51%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,639.71	+142.35 or +1.36%	+20.09%
Hang Seng	20,456.32	+21.08 or +0.10%	+42.18%
SENSEX	15,769.85	+81.38 or +0.52%	+63.46%
FTSE 100	4,894.78	-22.02 or -0.45%	+10.39%
CAC 40	3,670.50	-10.11 or -0.27%	+14.06%
DAX	5,525.33	-31.76 or -0.57%	+14.87%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	102.98	102.70	3.39
Cdn. 30-year bond	118.66	118.39	3.89
U.S. 10-year bond	101.53	101.09	3.44
U.S. 30-year bond	104.75	103.72	4.22

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9173	0.9210
US $	1.0902	1.0858

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6425	0.6434
Euro	1.5565	1.5541

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$949.50	$950.50

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$71.85	-$0.20 or -0.28%

(08/26/09)