A.M. market numbers: January 15, 2010

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

The Toronto stock market headed for a lower open as oil prices fell on concerns about reduced demand and a stronger U.S. dollar.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.29 of a cent to 97.42 cents US.

U.S. futures also pointed to a negative open despite an earnings report from chip giant Intel Corp. after the market close that blew past expectations on earnings and revenue. But investors were less happy with results from JPMogan Chase, which beat earnings expectations but missed on revenue.

The Dow Jones industrial futures fell 44 points to 10,619, the Nasdaq futures declined 9.25 points to 1,879 and the S&P 500 futures were off 6.8 points to 1,138.4.

JPMorgan Chase earned US$3.28 billion or 74 cents a share during the final three months of 2009, primarily because its investment banking and trading businesses were still profiting from a 10-month market rally. The showing easily topping analysts expectations of 61 cents but total revenue fell below expectations and the company’s stock fell about two per cent in pre-opening trading.

“Even though actual earnings rose fourfold from a year earlier, investors are not happy with the fact that the retail bank operation still reported a loss for the quarter and boosted its loan loss reserves,” observed Andrew Pyle, investment adviser at ScotiaMcLeod in Peterborough, Ont.

“Well, after the almost unbelievable run higher in bank stocks last year you have to expect some disappointments along the way.”

Intel Corp. turned in a profit of US$2.3 billion or 40 cents a share, much higher than the 30 cents a share that analysts forecast. It also beat revenue forecasts and the number one maker of computer microprocessors delivered a bright profit outlook for 2010.

Oil prices moved down for a fifth session with the February crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange 51 cents lower to US$78.88 a barrel.

The latest dip came even as the International Energy Agency predicted in its monthly report that oil demand will average 86.3 million barrels a day this year, or 1.4 million barrels a day more than in 2009.

The February bullion contract on the Nymex moved down $7 to US$1,136 and March copper was unchanged at US$3.39.

Before the markets open, the U.S. government provides two fresh readings on the economy.

The Labour Department is likely to report that consumer prices in December rose 0.2 per cent after rising 0.4 per cent in November, according to forecasts of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. The report is also likely to show that consumer prices for 2009 posted their first annual drop since 1954.

Later in the morning, the Federal Reserve issues its report on production from factories, mines and utilities for December. Economists predict that industrial production rose 0.6 per cent, after rising 0.8 per cent the previous month.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average advanced 0.7 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.3 per cent.

London’s FTSE 100 index eased 0.24 per cent, Frankfurt’s DAX dropped 0.94 per cent while the Paris CAC 40 declined 0.6 per cent.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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	Open	Change	2009 Full Year
Dow Jones	10,710.55	+29.78 or +0.28%	+2.71%
S&P 500	1,148.46	+2.78 or +0.24%	+2.99%
NASDAQ	2,316.74	+8.84 or +0.38%	+2.10%
TSX Composite	11,804.38	-49.18 or -0.41%	+0.50%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,982.10	+74.42or +0.68%	+4.13%
Hang Seng	21,654.16	-62.79 or -0.29%	-1.00%
SENSEX	17,554.30	-30.57 or -0.17%	+0.51%
FTSE 100	5,501.00	+2.80 or +0.05%	+1.63%
CAC 40	4,001.32	-14.45 or -0.36%	+1.65%
DAX	5,941.70	-47.18 or -0.79%	-0.26%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	101.70	101.23	3.53
Cdn. 30-year bond	115.10	114.15	4.08
U.S. 10-year bond	97.56	97.13	3.67
U.S. 30-year bond	96.75	96.06	4.57

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9742	0.9703
US $	1.0265	1.0306

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6779	0.6740
Euro	1.4752	1.4837

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$1,132.00	$1,138.25

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$79.16	-$0.23 or -0.29%

(01/15/10)