A.M. market numbers: September 02, 2009

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

The Toronto market is likely headed for a lower opening on top of two days of sharp losses sparked by worries about the financial industry and prospects for a strong recovery that will justify the sharp runup in stocks for most of this year.

U.S. futures also pointed to a lower open following a worse than expected forecast of August job losses.

The Dow Jones industrial futures were off 27 points to 9,276, the Nasdaq futures dropped 5.5 points to 1,590 while the S&P 500 futures slipped 3.2 points to 993.3 after the ADP Employment Change Report for August forecast job losses of 298,000 in the U.S. during that month.

Economists expect the August U.S. non-farm payrolls report on Friday to show a loss of 275,000 jobs for the month, following a loss of 247,000 in July.

Canadian job losses are expected to come in at about 22,000.

The Canadian dollar was up to 90.53 cents US. Tumbling stock markets and lower commodity prices helped push the loonie down three quarters of a US cent on Tuesday.

The Toronto market has lost almost 300 points over the last two sessions, losing 178 points alone on Tuesday despite data showing expansion of the manufacturing sector in the U.S. and China as investors worry about the pace of a recovery.

Financial losses led decliners on Tuesday as talk about growing bank losses, as well as an analyst downgrade of American International Group, led traders to dump financial shares, which had surged this summer.

The TSX could get some early support from energy stocks as oil prices revived after sinking almost US$5 a barrel over the last two days on demand concerns. The October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 27 cents to $68.32 as a drop in U.S. crude inventories suggested demand may be recovering.

The American Petroleum Institute said Tuesday that U.S. inventories plunged 3.2 million barrels last week. Analysts had expected the API numbers to drop 1.9 million barrels. The U.S. Energy Department reports inventory figures later in the morning.

Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) could also provide support to the TSX after it reported that profit fell to US$202 million or 11 cents a share in its latest quarter, down from 14 cents a share or $259 million a year ago. Earnings beat estimates by two cents a share.

Revenue was flat at $4.9 billion against estimates of about $4.57 billion.

In other Canadian corporate news, Canadian life sciences company MDS Inc. (TSX: MDS) says it’s going to sell off most of its major divisions and focus on its troubled Nordion medical isotope business.

The Toronto-based company announced Wednesday that it has arranged the sale of its Analytical Technologies business for $650 million to Danaher Corp.(NYSE: DHR).

The company also said it intends sell its MDS Pharma Services business, which helps other companies discover and develop new drugs.

Asian markets also tumbled as Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock average retreated 2.4%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng lost 1.8%.

China offered a rare bright stop, with the Shanghai index gaining 1.2%, adding to a recovery after the country’s market’s plunged on Monday. London’s FTSE 100 index moved down 0.21%, Frankfurt’s DAX was down 0.5% while the Paris CAC 40 slipped 0.6%.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

Back to Top

Dow Jones	9,310.60	-185.68 or -1.96%	+6.09%
S&P 500	998.04	-22.58 or -2.21%	+10.49%
NASDAQ	1,968.89	-40.17 or -2.00%	+24.85%
TSX Composite	10,689.78	-178.43 or -1.64%	+18.94%

International markets

Back to Top

	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,280.46	-249.60 or -2.37%	+16.04%
Hang Seng	19,522.00	-350.30 or -1.76%	+35.69%
SENSEX	15,467.46	-83.73 or -0.54%	+60.33%
FTSE 100	4,792.89	-26.81 or -0.56%	+8.09%
CAC 40	3,548.78	-34.66 or -0.97%	+10.28%
DAX	5,275.18	-52.11 or -0.98%	+9.67%

Bonds

Back to Top

Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	103.43	101.84	3.33
Cdn. 30-year bond	119.19	105.37	3.87
U.S. 10-year bond	102.18	101.34	3.36
U.S. 30-year bond	105.30	104.53	4.19

Currency

Back to Top

BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9053	0.9057
US $	1.1046	1.1041

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6363	0.6371
Euro	1.5716	1.5697

Commodities

Back to Top

Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$955.00	$955.00

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$68.19	+$0.14 or +0.21%

(09/02/09)