A.M. market numbers: November 25, 2009

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

Higher prices for metals and oil should give the Toronto stock market a boost at the open.

New York futures also pointed to a positive start to Wednesday’s session ahead of fresh economic reports on consumer spending and new home sales.

The Dow Jones futures were up 25 points to 10,430, the Nasdaq futures gained 8.25 points to 1,794.75 and the S&P 500 futures advanced 5.6 points to 1,108.7 ahead of what is expected to be a quiet session heading into the U.S. Thanksgiving Holiday.

A weaker U.S. currency helped push the Canadian dollar up 0.93 of a cent to 95.45 cents US.

The January crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 24 cents to US$76.26 a barrel after losing ground Tuesday in the wake of soft U.S. economic growth and consumer sentiment data.

The December bullion contract on the Nymex continued to head higher into record territory, up $14.70 to US$1,180.50 an ounce while December copper climbed three cents to US$3.15 a pound.

Comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve helped drive investor sentiment Wednesday. The central bank said the economy’s contraction for all of this year won’t be as deep as it thought in a forecast released in the summer. Growth next year should turn out slightly better than the Fed previously projected.

The Fed also said in minutes from its last meeting on interest rates that the unemployment rate, which hit a hit a 26-year high of 10.2% in November, will stay in the range of 9.3% to 9.7% next year, which is slightly better than the Fed’s June forecast. It also offered reassurance that interest rates will stay close to zero for quite a while yet.

On the economic calendar, it is expected that a U.S. Commerce Department report on personal income and spending will show that spending rose 0.5% in October after falling 0.5% in September. Income is expected to rise 0.2% after being flat in September.

Later in the day, the University of Michigan’s final report on consumer sentiment for November in expected to be revised up to 67 from a preliminary reading of 66, but will still be below the October reading of 70.6.

Investors will also get an update on the job market when the Labour Department releases its weekly report on first-time claims for unemployment benefits.

On the corporate front, farm equipment maker Deere and Co. says big charges and lower sales of farm and construction equipment amid the economic downturn left it with a US$223 million loss for the fourth quarter. Deere says worldwide revenue dropped 28% to US$5.33 billion.

QLT Inc. has agreed to pay US$20 million to settle a legal dispute with Massachusetts General Hospital, which had been seeking higher royalty payments from the sale of the Visudyne treatment for age-related blindness. In return for QLT’s payment, the Boston-based hospital has agreed to dismiss its claims against the Vancouver-based drug developer.

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited said Tuesday that it has received preliminary regulatory approval to establish of a new property and casualty insurance company in Brazil. The company plans to carry out its operations across Brazil, in all lines of commercial business, with a primary focus on property, energy, casualty, surety, marine, financial lines, special risks, hull and aviation

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average advanced 0.4%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.8%, and China’s Shanghai benchmark rebounded from a big retreat the day before, closing up 2.1%.

London’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.69%, Frankfurt’s DAX was up 0.61% and the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.74%.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets (previous close)

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Dow Jones	10,433.71	-17.24 or -0.16%	+18.88%
S&P 500	1,105.65	-0.59 or -0.05%	+22.41%
NASDAQ	2,169.18	-6.83 or -0.31%	+37.55%
TSX Composite	11,539.63	-84.39 or -0.73%	+28.39%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,441.64	+40.06 or +0.43%	+6.57%
Hang Seng	22,611.80	+188.66 or +0.84%	+57.16%
SENSEX	17,198.95	+67.87 or +0.40%	+78.28%
FTSE 100	5,359.68	+35.72 or +0.67%	+20.87%
CAC 40	3,812.09	+27.47 or +0.73%	+18.46%
DAX	5,803.95	+34.64 or +0.60%	+20.66%

Bonds

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Bonds	$ Current	$ Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	103.83	103.16	3.28
Cdn. 30-year bond	119.42	118.10	3.85
U.S. 10-year bond	100.53	100.25	3.31
U.S. 30-year bond	102.09	101.55	4.25

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9546	0.9425
US $	1.0475	1.0610

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6331	0.6306
Euro	1.5795	1.5857

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$1,176.50	$1,163.25

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$76.29	+$0.27 or +0.36%

(11/25/09)