A.M. market numbers: November 9, 2009

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

North American stock markets appeared headed for a sharply higher open Monday after weak U.S jobs data on Friday reassured investors that interest rates will stay low.

Sentiment was further lifted by a weekend meeting of the Group of 20 countries at which officials agreed to keep their economic stimulus measures in place.

The Dow Jones futures were up 85 points to 10,063, the Nasdaq futures were 16.75 points higher to 1,746.5 while the S&P 500 futures gained 10.7 points to 1,076.9.

American currency weakness helped take the Canadian dollar up 1.07 cents to US$94.07 cents US.

The Toronto market should get extra lift from resources. The falling U.S. dollar and worries that hurricane Ida could damage oil installations in the Gulf of Mexico pushed the December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange up $1.09 to US$78.52 a barrel.

Bullion continued to set new records with the December gold contract on the Nymex ahead $14.10 to US$1,109.80 an ounce while December copper gained four cents to $2.99 a pound.

Both the main TSX index and the Dow industrials plowed ahead about 3% last week despite jobless reports at the end of the week that were worse than expected.

"The logic being used is that weak employment (more so the rising unemployment rate) will ensure that the Federal Reserve will maintain a low interest rate policy longer and that this will support the recovery," observed Andrew Pyle, investment adviser at ScotiaMcLeod in Peterborough, Ont.

"On top of that we had the G20 finance ministers meeting over the weekend, where the verdict was to also keep the stimulus taps open full to ensure the recovery does stick."

In economic news, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said that the seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts reached 157,300 units in October, up from 149,300 units in September. CMHC said the multiple starts segment was largely responsible for the increase.

There was also major acquisition news from the food industry as Kraft Foods made a cash and stock offer worth US$16.46 billion for Cadbury Inc.

On the earnings front, IT services company CGI Group Inc. said quarterly earnings from continuing operations totalled $82.6 million or 27 cents per share, up from a year-ago profit of $75.3 million or 24 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter was $926.1 million, down from $929.2 million a year before. Analysts had expected earnings per share of 24 cents for the quarter, and had predicted revenue of $960 million.

Angiotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. posted a loss of $7.8 million or nine cents per share in third quarter, down from $622.4 million or $7.31 a share in third quarter of 2008 when the company wrote down the value of its goodwill assets by $612.9 million. Revenue from all sources fell to $63.2 million as royalty revenue fell, from $68.4 million a year ago.

Elsewhere, McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast-food chain, said Monday that monthly sales growth was relatively flat in the U.S. but that was offset by stronger growth globally.

Sales in stores open at least 13 months edged down 0.1% in the U.S. in October. They rose 6.4% in Europe and 4.7% in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa. The prospect of American interest rates staying low also helped Asian stock markets rise Monday.

In overseas trading, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.1% and Japan’s Nikkei stock average edged up 0.4%.

London’s FTSE 100 index gained 1.71%, Frankfurt’s DAX advanced 1.66% while the Paris CAC 40 rose 1.49%.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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Dow Jones	10,023.42	+17.46 or +0.17%	+14.21%
S&P 500	1,069.30	+2.67 or +0.25%	+18.38%
NASDAQ	2,112.44	+7.12 or +0.34%	+33.95%
TSX Composite	11,250.42	+69.72 or +0.62%	+25.18%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,808.99	+19.64 or +0.20%	+10.72%
Hang Seng	22,207.55	+377.83 or +1.73%	+54.35%
SENSEX	16,498.72	+340.44 or +2.11%	+71.02%
FTSE 100	5,214.35	+71.63 or +1.39%	+17.59%
CAC 40	3,762.64	+55.35 or +1.49%	+16.93%
DAX	5,580.45	+92.20 or +1.68%	+16.01%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	101.86	101.88	3.52
Cdn. 30-year bond	116.10	116.20	4.03
U.S. 10-year bond	100.84	100.92	3.52
U.S. 30-year bond	101.30	101.75	4.42

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9405	0.9319
US $	1.0632	1.0731

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6280	0.6280
Euro	1.5925	1.5924

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$1,108.50	$1,096.75

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$76.85	+$0.98 or +1.29%

(11/09/09)