A.M. market numbers: August 28, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market appeared headed for a higher open Friday as Bank of Nova Scotia handed in earnings that beat expectations while oil prices continued to advance.

Scotiabank says its third-quarter profit fell to $931 million or 87 cents a share from a year-before $1.01 billion even as revenues increased. That was three cents a share more than analysts expected.

Performance was dragged down by loan loss provisions that jumped to $554 million from $159 million a year ago. Scotiabank’s earnings cap a week’s worth of reports by the big banks — all of which beat expectations, save for CIBC.

The October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 61 cents to US$73.10 a barrel. Prices have been volatile this week as traders try to gauge demand prospects.

The Toronto market could also get a boost from higher metal prices as the December bullion contract rose $5.80 to US$953.10 while September copper jumped nine cents to US$2.96 a pound.

The Canadian dollar was up sharply for a second day, ahead 0.38 of a cent to 92.49 cents US after running up just over a cent Thursday despite a warning from the Bank of Canada earlier in the week that it is prepared to intervene to put the blocks to the loonie’s recent sharp rise.

New York futures were also higher ahead of key economic data later in the morning and positive earnings news from the tech sector.

Computer maker Dell Inc. reported better-than-expected results for its May through July quarter, even as profits fell 23% from a year ago. While sales continued to fall because of reduced spending by consumers and businesses, Dell said it has seen signs of improvements.

The Dow futures rose 26 points to 9,593, the Nasdaq futures rose seven points to 1,646 while the S&P 500 futures were up 4.9 to 1,034.2.

Traders in the U.S. are awaiting a key Commerce Department report on personal spending and income.

Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expect personal spending rose 0.2% in July because of the popular Cash for Clunkers program.

Personal income, which has been hammered during the recession as employers cut payrolls and forced workers to take unpaid days off to hold down wage costs, is also expected to have increased 0.2% in July.

Investors also get a reading on consumer strength as the University of Michigan releases the final results of its August sentiment survey. When the preliminary August results released two weeks ago were worse than expected, it helped spur a big sell-off in the market.

Asian closed mostly higher, helped by the better earnings news and despite some jitters in Chinese markets, where concerns remain that Beijing may cut back on its stimulus measures.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.6%, to 10,534.14 despite news that Japan’s unemployment rate rose to an all-time high in July and prices fell at a record pace — both threatening to dull the economy’s recovery.

In China, the Shanghai benchmark dove 2.9% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was off 0.7%.

London’s FTSE 100 index gained 1.04%, Frankfurt’s DAX was up 1.33% while the Paris CAC 40 advanced 1.46%.

In other earnings news, power generator TransAlta Corp. extended Thursday its hostile offer for Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. by two weeks. TransAlta’s $4.55-per-share offer for the Calgary-based green energy producer was to have expired Thursday, but will now be open until Sept. 11 unless withdrawn or extended again.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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Dow Jones	9,580.63	+37.11 or +0.39%	+9.16%
S&P 500	1,030.98	+2.86 or +0.28%	+14.14%
NASDAQ	2,027.73	+3.30 or +0.16%	+28.58%
TSX Composite	10,933.96	+21.79 or +0.20%	+21.65%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,534.14	+60.17 or +0.57%	+18.90%
Hang Seng	20,098.62	-144.13 or -0.71%	+39.70%
SENSEX	15,922.34	+141.27 or +0.90%	+63.58%
FTSE 100	4,919.56	+50.21 or +1.03%	+10.95%
CAC 40	3,698.84	+50.31 or +1.38%	+14.94%
DAX	5,540.28	+69.95 or +1.28%	+15.18%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	102.96	102.97	3.39
Cdn. 30-year bond	118.66	118.56	3.89
U.S. 10-year bond	101.09	101.28	3.49
U.S. 30-year bond	104.17	104.50	4.25

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9249	0.9141
US $	1.0812	1.0940

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6435	0.6411
Euro	1.5539	1.5598

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$950.75	$943.00

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$73.03	+$0.54 or +0.74%

(08/28/09)