Market numbers: Friday, July 10, 2009

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

Stock markets appeared set for a weak open Friday amid lower expectations for the second-quarter earnings season and slumping oil prices.

Commodity stocks led the Toronto Stock Exchange to a triple-digit gain Thursday after three days of steep losses.

However, oil prices were back down below $60 a barrel Friday morning, pointing to a lower open on the commodity-heavy TSX. Benchmark crude for August delivery fell 70 cents to $59.71 a barrel. Over the last week or two, oil prices have slid more than $10 a barrel amid the waning economic optimism.

And the Toronto mining sector could take a hit from lower gold prices, as the August bullion contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange lost US$6.50 to $909.70.

The loonie lost 0.27 cent to 85.77 cents US despite news that Canada lost an unexpectedly low 7,400 jobs in June, compared to the 42,000 workers who lost their jobs the previous month.

The unemployment rate rose two-tenths of a point to 8.6%, largely because more Canadians were looking for work during the month.

But the good news ended there since full-time employment and private sector jobs – the two most reliable indicators of labour market strength – both continued to fall sharply.

The second quarter earnings season in the U.S. kicked off Wednesday as Alcoa turned in a US$454 million dollar loss, which was narrower than expected thanks to recent efforts to slash costs and raise cash.

However, the U.S.’s second-biggest oil company warned that its refining margins were sharply down on the first quarter. And weak sales reports from U.S. retailers and more pain in the country’s labour market did little to lift the mood.

Futures in New York indicate investors are waiting more direction from the earnings season. Dow futures were down 62 points, or 0.8%, at 8,072 while the broader S&P 500 futures fell 6.6 points, or 0.8%, to 872.30.

European stock markets also fell Friday, with the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares down 31.09 points, or 0.8%, at 4,127.57 while Germany’s DAX fell 35.02 points, or 0.8%, at 4,595.05. The CAC-40 in France was 22.99 points, or 0.8%, lower at 3,002.95.

Earlier in Asia, markets gyrated throughout the day before edging down. Japan’s Nikkei index notched up its eighth straight loss, closing 3.78 points lower to 9,287.28.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 82.17, or 0.5%, to 17,708.42. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.2% and Shanghai’s index shed 0.3%. Meanwhile, Australia’s index gained 0.8% and Singapore’s market fell 0.2%.

In other corporate news, a person briefed on the matter told The Associated Press that General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM) has emerged from bankruptcy protection after signing papers to transfer the bulk of its assets to a new, leaner company majority owned by the U.S. government.

One bankruptcy expert called GM’s 40-day case the fastest ever for a company of its size.

In Canada, troubled media conglomerate Canwest Global Communications Corp. (TSX:CGS) reported a third-quarter net loss of $110 million, or 62 cents per share, for the quarter ended May 31.

Canwest said the most recent loss includes a $247 million impairment of goodwill charge in its publishing operations.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	8,183.17	+4.76 or +0.06%	-6.76%
S&P 500	882.68	+3.12 or +0.35%	-2.28%
NASDAQ	1,752.55	+5.38 or +0.31%	+11.13%
TSX Composite	9,773.92	+120.47 or +1.25%	+8.75%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,287.28	-3.78 or -0.04%	+4.83%
Hang Seng	17,708.42	-82.17 or -0.46%	+23.08%
SENSEX	13,504.22	-253.24 or -1.84%	+39.98%
FTSE 100	4,127.43	-31.23 or -0.75%	-6.92%
CAC 40	2,999.86	-26.08 or -0.86%	-6.78%
DAX	4,593.57	-36.50 or -0.79%	-4.50%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	103.80	104.14	3.30
Cdn. 30-year bond	119.35	120.05	3.86
U.S. 10-year bond	97.81	98.52	3.39
U.S. 30-year bond	99.64	101.13	4.27

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8577	0.8604
US $	1.1659	1.1623

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6165	0.6129
Euro	1.6221	1.6316

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$910.00	$911.75

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$59.09	-$1.320 or -2.19%

(07/10/09)