Market numbers: Monday, July 06, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market is headed for a sharply lower open as oil prices retreat and overseas indexes pull back amid increasing pessimism about an economic recovery.

The August crude contract fell $3 to US$63.7 a barrel after falling 3.5 per cent last week on the growing belief that the economy won’t be strong enough to lift demand as much as expected.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.26 of a cent to 85.82 cents US.

The TSX sustained a one% decline last week with investors getting particularly discouraged at the end of the week in the wake of a much worse than expected U.S. employment report.

The June non-farm payrolls report said 467,000 Americans lost their jobs during the month, driving the U.S. unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5 %.

Canada’s own unemployment numbers are to be released Friday. They are expected to show job losses of around 30,000 last month. The country has lost 363,000 jobs since last October.

New York futures were sharply lower as U.S. markets catch up after being closed Friday for the July Fourth holiday. On Thursday, stocks fell sharply in response to the Labour Department employment numbers with the major indexes all dropping more than two%.

The, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 86 to 8,155. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 7.5 points to 885.8, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 10.25 to 1,435.

Overseas, Asian stocks were narrowly mixed Monday, undermined by investor anxiety that company earnings will reflect a weaker global economy than originally hoped.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average fell 150.14, or 1.5%, to 9,665.93, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.1% to 18,221.78.

London’s FTSE 100 index lost 1.25%, Frankfurt’s DAX gave back 1.5 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 declined 1.3%.

Uncertainty about company profits in the second quarter and forecasts for rest of the year, to be released in the coming weeks, also have many investors on edge. U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. opens earnings season on Wednesday.

"There’s a lack of direction and the momentum is very weak,” said Peter Lai, investment manager at DBS Vickers in Hong Kong.

"Markets are already waiting for catalysts to take profits, and because people are nervous about earnings I’m expecting a correction.”

There are no Canadian economic reports out Monday. But in the U.S., investors will get a reading on the services sector.

Economists expect a measure of the sector’s health to contract in June at its slowest pace in nine months. The Institute for Supply Management services index, likely totalled 45.5 in June, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. That would be up from 44 in May. Any reading below 50 indicates the services sector is shrinking.

In corporate news, a bankruptcy judge says that General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM) can sell the bulk of its assets to a new company, potentially clearing the way for the automaker to emerge from bankruptcy protection.

Silvercorp Metals Inc. (TSX:SVM) says Klondex Mines Ltd. (TSX:KDX) is urging shareholders to reject a $70 million takeover bid. The Vancouver-based company says Klondex has completed a $3 million private placement by issuing shares to Chinese company, and alleges the move violates terms of the offer.

Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B) said Monday it had secured shipment rates to transport coal from its mines in southern British Columbia to ports in the Vancouver area.

The Vancouver-based mining giant said it had negotiated rates with Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd (TSX:CP) for the 2009 coal year beginning April 1. Details of the negotiations were not disclosed.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	8,280.74	Closed	-5.65%
S&P 500	896.42	Closed	-0.76%
NASDAQ	1,796.52	Closed	+13.92%
TSX Composite	10,283.10	+37.19 or +0.36%	+14.41%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,680.87	-135.20 or -1.38%	+9.27%
Hang Seng	17,979.41	-223.99 or -1.23%	+24.97%
SENSEX	14,043.40	-869.65 or -5.83%	+45.57%
FTSE 100	4,187.20	-49.08 or -1.16%	-5.57%
CAC 40	3,078.28	-41.23 or -1.32%	-4.34%
DAX	4,642.08	-66.13 or -1.40%	-3.50%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	103.38	103.36	3.35
Cdn. 30-year bond	119.74	119.61	3.84
U.S. 10-year bond	96.88	96.88	3.50
U.S. 30-year bond	98.78	98.84	4.32

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8582	0.8607
US $	1.1652	1.1619

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6177	0.6159
Euro	1.6189	1.6237

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$921.50	$932.50

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$63.83	-$2.90 or -4.35%

(07/06/09)