AM market numbers: December 15, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market appeared headed for a weaker open Tuesday morning as commodity prices cooled off a day after a US$31-billion acquisition by Exxon Mobil gave lift to the Canadian energy sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed 121.76 points higher to 11,545.69 on Monday.

The Canadian dollar was ahead 0.38 of a cent to 95.21 cents US.

Oil prices were steady, with benchmark crude for January delivery up four cents to US$69.55 a barrel, while an ounce of gold slipped 0.8% to $1,115.10. Some upward pressure on oil could come from an OPEC statement that revised up slightly its forecast oil demand for next year. The group heads into a meeting in Angola next week where it is likely to leave members’ quotas unchanged.

Premarket trading on Wall Street indicated a lower open as the Federal Reserve prepares to begin a two-day meeting on interest-rate policies. The Fed is expected to keep rates unchanged when it makes its announcement Wednesday.

Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 29 points to 10,469. Nasdaq futures fell 5.75 to 1,802.00 and the S&P 500 futures fell 3.40 to 1,105.20.

A number of investors see a rate hike coming within the next year as the Fed takes a pre-emptive strike to keep inflation at bay. That would help shore up the value of the U.S. dollar, but it could also trip up a huge rally that has launched stocks sharply higher over the past nine months.

On Tuesday, U.S. investors will get fresh assessments of producer prices and the housing market. The Labour Department reports on wholesale prices for November, and prices are expected to have risen, driven by higher gasoline prices.

Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect wholesale prices rose by 0.8% last month following a 0.3% increase in October. Excluding energy and food, they expect core inflation will show a smaller 0.2% rise after dropping 0.6% in October.

Major stock indexes closed at new highs for the year Monday as Abu Dhabi’s $10 billion in aid to help Dubai eased concerns over the emirate’s debt problems. A takeover deal by Exxon Mobil Corp. raised optimism about mergers and acquisitions activity.

Late Monday, Wells Fargo became the last of the big banks to strike a deal to repay U.S. government assistance. The San Francisco-based bank said it would sell $10.4 billion in new stock to help repay all $25 billion in bailout aid it received from the government at the height of the market meltdown last fall. Earlier in the day, Citigroup Inc. said it would repay $20 billion worth of taxpayer funds.

Overseas, in afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.8%, Germany’s DAX index was down 0.2%, and France’s CAC-40 was down 0.9%. Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.2%.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets (previous close)

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	Open	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	10,501.05	+29.55 or +0.28%	+19.65%
S&P 500	1,114.11	+7.70 or +0.70%	+23.34%
NASDAQ	2,212.10	+21.79 or +0.99%	+40.27%
TSX Composite	11,545.69	+121.76 or +1.07%	+28.46%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,083.48	-22.20 or -0.22%	+13.81%
Hang Seng	21,813.92	-271.83 or -1.23%	+51.64%
SENSEX	16,877.16	-220.39 or -1.29%	+74.94%
FTSE 100	5,271.74	-43.60 or -0.82%	+18.89%
CAC 40	3,817.00	-13.44 or -0.35%	+18.62%
DAX	5,787.32	-14.94 or -0.26%	+20.31%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	102.83	103.04	3.40
Cdn. 30-year bond	116.41	116.80	4.01
U.S. 10-year bond	98.25	98.77	3.58
U.S. 30-year bond	97.81	98.25	4.51

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9405	0.9388
US $	1.0633	1.0652

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6470	0.6421
Euro	1.5456	1.5573

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$1,115.00	$1,123.75

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$69.60	+$0.09 or +0.13%

(12/15/09)