A.M. market numbers: September 01, 2009

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

North American markets were likely headed for a lower opening Tuesday ahead of key U.S. data coming out later in the morning that could provide a clue to the strength of an economic recovery.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial futures were down 52 points to 9,434, the Nasdaq futures fell 6.5 points to 1,618.5 while the S&P 500 futures backed off 4.7 points to 1,015.

The Toronto stock market ended August trading with a 110-point slide on Monday while racking up a slight 81-point gain for the whole month. September trading is starting with investors looking for a good reason to send the six-month-old market rally any higher with the TSX up an impressive 43% since the lows of early March.

The energy sector could see some relief after a sharp drop in the price of oil punished oil stocks on Monday. On Tuesday, the October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 14 cents to US$70.10 a barrel after dropping US$2.78 on Monday on demand concerns.

Metal prices were mixed as December gold declined $2.10 to US$951.40 an ounce while December copper gained four cents to US$2.86 a pound.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.12 cent to 91.2 cents US.

The major piece of economic data comes from The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives. Its manufacturing index is expected to report growth in August for the first time in 18 months. Economists are expecting the index will read 50.5 in August, compared with 48.9 in July. A reading above 50 indicates growth.

Investors will look to other data for indications the U.S. housing market is recovering. An index that tracks pending home sales is forecast to rise in July for the sixth straight month. Construction spending, however, is expected to be flat in July after growing in June.

Auto sales figures are also coming out during the session and many automakers are set to post strong results for August thanks to the U.S. government’s Cash for Clunkers program. But analysts warn that sales could show a steep drop in September and the coming months now that the program has expired.

The most important economic reports come out on Friday. The U.S. non-farms payroll report for August is expected to show the economy shed another 225,000 jobs. In Canada, the jobless report is expected to show the loss of another 20,000 jobs last month.

In corporate news, Biovail Corp. (TSX:BVF) shares will be in focus after it said it is "disappointed” with the results from a clinical trial of a potential drug for patients with Parkinson’s disease psychosis. The Toronto-area pharmaceutical company said Tuesday a Phase 3 trial didn’t find statistically significant improvements for patients who were given pimavanserin, compared with patients who didn’t receive the treatment.

Asian stocks closed mostly higher on relief that China’s main index has stabilized after sharp drops Monday, but gains were limited as investors worried that Beijing may cut down on stimulus spending.

The Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.6% following a 6.7% plunge Monday that took it to its lowest level in three months.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.7% while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.4%.

London’s FTSE 100 index fell 1.2%, Frankfurt’s DAX lost 1.36% while the Paris CAC 40 index gave back 0.86%.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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Dow Jones	9,496.28	-47.92 or -0.50%	+8.20%
S&P 500	1,020.62	-8.31 or -0.81%	+12.99%
NASDAQ	2,009.06	-19.71 or -0.97%	+27.40%
TSX Composite	10,868.21	-109.76 or -1.00%	+20.92%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,530.06	+37.53 or +0.36%	+18.86%
Hang Seng	19,872.30	+148.11 or +0.75%	+38.12%
SENSEX	15,551.19	-115.45 or -0.74%	+61.20%
FTSE 100	4,852.19	-56.71 or -1.16%	+9.43%
CAC 40	3,620.19	-33.35 or -0.91%	+12.50%
DAX	5,385.17	-79.44 or -1.45%	+11.95%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	101.84	102.96	3.40
Cdn. 30-year bond	105.37	118.66	4.18
U.S. 10-year bond	101.34	101.34	3.43
U.S. 30-year bond	104.53	104.53	4.23

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9120	0.9132
US $	1.0964	1.0950

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6378	0.6370
Euro	1.5679	1.5698

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$ 949.75	$955.50

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$70.21	+$0.25 or +0.36%

(09/01/09)