A.M. market numbers: December 31, 2009

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

North American stock markets appeared heading for a slightly higher open Thursday as investors look back on a year of strong gains on the main indexes.

The Dow Jones industrial futures rose 10 points to 10,500, the Nasdaq futures climbed 2.25 points to 1,879, while the S&P 500 futures rose 2.2 points to 1,124.3.

The Canadian dollar gained 0.45 of a cent to 95.21 cents US, a sharp rise from the 82.1-cent level where it started 2009.

The loonie started gaining traction in early March, around the same time stock markets hit their lows for the year, and has been on a steady rise since then amid sharply higher commodity prices and a steadily weakening U.S. dollar. Economists expect the dollar to revisit the parity level with the greenback during 2010.

A rally that has run practically non-stop since early March is taking the TSX up about 30% for 2009. The Dow Jones industrials average is about 20% higher, the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index is up 45% and the S&P 500 index has ran ahead about 25%.

Impressive as the strong TSX performance looks, it follows a 35% loss in 2008 and the main TSX index level at around 11,700 is still a long way from the 15,000 mark from the all-time peak hit at the middle of last year.

The TSX energy sector will be in focus after the Mackenzie Gas Project, which involves building a natural gas pipeline through the Northwest Territories, cleared a major hurdle. A federally appointed Joint Review Panel says the project could "provide the foundation for a sustainable northern future." However, it said its conclusion is conditional on the "full implementation" of its 176 recommendations.

Imperial Oil Ltd. is the lead partner in the Mackenzie project. Natural gas shipper TransCanada Corp. would feed the Mackenzie gas into its Alberta pipeline network.

The February crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange added six cents to US$79.34 a barrel.

The February gold contract on the Nymex rose $11.90 to US$1,104.40 an ounce while March copper in New York rose two cents to US$3.36 a pound.

For the last day of trading for the year and the week, investors will be taking in employment data. Investors predict a U.S. government unemployment report will show the number of newly laid-off workers rose slightly last week. Economists expect new unemployment insurance claims will rise by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 460,000, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Overseas, many markets were closed for New Year festivities.

Two markets in Asia that were open were China’s Shanghai index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng — both ended the year on an upbeat tone, rising 0.5% and 1.8%.

London’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.28%, Frankfurt’s DAX was closed while the Paris CAC 40 was flat.

In corporate news, Bombardier Inc. has received an order from Spain’s national rail operator to maintain a fleet of high-speed trains for 14 years. RENFE will pay US$917 million to Bombardier and Spanish railway vehicle maker Talgo to maintain the new trains. Bombardier’s share of the contract comes to US$405 million.

Brookfield Properties Corp. has sold interests in two office and commercial properties in the Washington, D.C., area for net proceeds of $103 million. In one deal, the Toronto headquartered company said it had sold a 90% interest in an office property in Washington, D.C., to a group of investors represented by Edge Fund Advisors for $203.4 million.

In a separate transaction, Brookfield also sold One Bethesda Center, a 15,800-square-metre building in Bethesda, Md., near Washington, D.C., to JBG Associates LLC for an undisclosed price.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	10,548.51	+3.10 or +0.03%	+20.19%
S&P 500	1,126.42	+0.22 or +0.02%	+24.71%
NASDAQ	2,291.28	+2.88 or +0.13%	+45.29%
TSX Composite	11,717.46	+15.65 or +0.13%	+30.37%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,546.44	Closed	+19.04%
Hang Seng	21,872.50	+375.88 or +1.75%	+52.02%
SENSEX	17,464.81	+120.99 or +0.70%	+81.03%
FTSE 100	5,412.88	+15.02 or +0.28%	+22.07%
CAC 40	3,936.33	+0.83 or +0.02%	+22.32%
DAX	5,957.43	Closed	+23.85%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	101.21	100.88	3.60
Cdn. 30-year bond	115.35	114.53	4.07
U.S. 10-year bond	96.47	96.67	3.81
U.S. 30-year bond	96.00	95.89	4.62

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9536	0.9535
US $	1.0487	1.0488

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6607	0.6648
Euro	1.5135	1.5043

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$1,104.00	$1,087.50

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$79.26	-$0.02 or -0.03%

(12/31/09)