A.M. market numbers: August 7, 2009

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

North American markets appear headed for a lower open Friday as investors in Canada and the U.S. brace for the latest data on job losses.

Statistics Canada released Canadian data early in the day, reporting the country’s labour market shed another 45,000 jobs in July as more people struggled to find work.

The unemployment rate stayed at 8.6% during the month.

Full-time employment and private sector jobs _ the two most reliable indicators of labour market strength – both continued their downward trajectory.

The agency reported there were 29,100 fewer full-time workers in July, while the private sector shed another 75,000 positions.

In the U.S., a report from the Labor Department showed job losses moderated in July as the worst recession since the Second World War eased.

The report said job losses slowed in July to 247,000, short of the 320,000 analysts had predicted.

The unemployment rate also bucked expectations, falling to 9.4% from 9.5% in June. It is widely anticipated the unemployment rate, which tends to lag a recovery in the economy, will eventually eclipse 10%. Employers typically do not start adding jobs until they are fully confident an economic recovery will last.

In Thursday’s trade, the Toronto stock market fell to a sharp loss amid news that Canada’s largest insurance company will cut its dividend in half.

The S&P/TSX composite index lost 253.56 points or 2.3% to 10,793.37, reversing four consecutive days of gains that had seen Toronto’s main index add more than 5%.

The financial sector was the biggest drag on the TSX, losing a hefty 5.6% on news that Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC) will cut its quarterly dividend in order to build capital, despite a 79% surge in profits during the second quarter.

In New York, markets were also lower amid sales figures that showed U.S. shoppers remained tight-fisted in July, resulting in sluggish sales for many merchants and raising concern about the health of the back-to-school shopping season.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 24.71 points to 9,256.26.

Ahead of Friday’s market open, Dow futures fell 24, or 0.3%, to 9,205. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures declined 2.10, or 0.2%, to 992.80, while Nasdaq 100 index futures dropped 2.75, or 0.2%, to 1,598.50.

The Canadian dollar opened at 92.64 cents US, down 0.24 of a cent from Thursday’s close.

Light sweet crude for September delivery was down 70 cents to US$71.24 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 1.4%. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 1.2%, Germany’s DAX index fell 0.6%, and France’s CAC-40 dropped 0.8%.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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Dow Jones	9,256.26	-24.71 or -0.27%	+5.47%
S&P 500	997.08	-5.64 or -0.56%	+10.39%
NASDAQ	1,973.16	-19.89 or -1.00%	+25.12%
TSX Composite	10,820.13	-226.80 or -2.05%	+20.39%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,412.09	+24.00 or +0.23%	+17.52%
Hang Seng	20,375.37	-523.87 or -2.51%	+41.62%
SENSEX	15,160.24	-353.79 or -2.28%	+57.14%
FTSE 100	4,649.85	-40.68 or -0.87%	+4.86%
CAC 40	3,451.95	-25.88 or -0.74%	+7.27%
DAX	5,346.55	-23.43 or -0.44%	+11.15%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	101.71	101.41	3.54
Cdn. 30-year bond	116.39	115.65	4.02
U.S. 10-year bond	94.84	94.84	3.76
U.S. 30-year bond	95.30	94.84	4.54

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9264	0.9288
US $	1.0794	1.0767

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6447	0.6469
Euro	1.5511	1.5458

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$ 960.50	$964.00

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$71.41	-$0.53 or -0.74%

(08/07/09)