Market numbers: Friday, June 19, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market is expected to open higher with investors feeling more optimistic about the U.S. economy while energy stocks should get some support from higher crude prices.

The S&P/TSX composite index snapped a four-session losing streak Thursday, rising 55 points after the U.S. Conference Board said its forecast of economic activity did better than expected in May.

In addition, the overall number of people drawing unemployment benefits in the U.S. fell last week for the first time since early January.

The spring rally on the Toronto and New York markets stalled earlier in the week over concerns that the economy won’t recover as quickly as hoped after taking Canadian and American indexes up about 40% in three months.

The TSX isn’t likely to get support from tech sector heavyweight Research In Motion Ltd. (TSX:RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM).

The BlackBerry maker blew posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit of US$643 million while revenue rose 53% from a year ago to US$3.42 billion. But in its outlook for the second quarter, subscriber growth is expected to be relatively flat. In New York, its shares were down six cents to US$76.49.

TSX energy stocks had sold off earlier in the week as oil prices came down from seven month highs of US$73 a barrel but on Friday, the July crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 59 cents to US$71.96 a barrel.

The Canadian dollar was up half a cent to 88.74 cents US.

The Dow Jones industrial futures rose 36 points to 8,586, Nasdaq futures were up 12.25 to 1,461.75, and the S&P 50 futures ahead 7.9 points to 921.1.

In other corporate news, the Canadian Auto Workers union said Thursday sales and service agents voted to ratify a new 21-month collective agreement with Air Canada (TSX:AC.A, TSX:AC.B) that includes a temporary moratorium on pension funding. The airline has still not signed a deal with its 6,700 flight attendants represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Potash One Inc. (TSX:KCL) said Thursday it is making plans to develop a new potash project northwest of Regina for an estimated US$1.9 billion.

Money manager Sceptre Investment Counsel Ltd. (TSX:SZ) reported a drop in second-quarter profit compared with a year ago as revenue dropped by nearly a third. The Toronto based company earned $519,000 compared with a profit of $1.7 million a year ago.

Thursday’s upbeat U.S. data also boosted overseas stocks. Japans Nikkei 225 stock average 0.2% and Hong Kongs Hang Seng climbed 0.6%.

London’s FTSE 100 index ran up 1.8%, Germany’s DAX 30 inched up a quarter of a point while the Paris CAC40 gained 1.15%.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	8,555.60	+58.42 or +0.69%	-3.18%
S&P 500	918.37	+7.66 or +0.84%	+0.83%
NASDAQ	1,807.72	-0.34 or -0.02%	+14.65%
TSX Composite	10,121.50	+55.39 or +0.55%	+12.00%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,786.26	+82.54 or +0.85%	+10.46%
Hang Seng	17,920.93	+144.27 or +0.81%	+24.56%
SENSEX	14,521.89	+256.36 or +1.80%	+50.53%
FTSE 100	4,355.41	+74.55 or +1.74%	-1.78%
CAC 40	3,224.61	+30.55 or +0.96%	+0.21%
DAX	4,843.97	+6.49 or +0.13%	+0.70%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	101.98	102.68	3.51
Cdn. 30-year bond	117.39	118.74	3.96
U.S. 10-year bond	94.28	95.42	3.82
U.S. 30-year bond	94.37	95.75	4.60

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8874	0.8826
US $	1.1268	1.1333

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6362	0.6353
Euro	1.5718	1.5741

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$ 933.75	$940.50

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$72.06	+$0.69 or +0.97%

(06/19/09)