Market numbers: Monday, July 13, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market closed sharply higher as Canadian banks benefited from a positive outlook on U.S. financial heavyweight Goldman Sachs and investors took in data indicating an economic recovery may be taking hold.

The S&P/TSX composite index was volatile, losing as much as 159 points in early trading, but the main index ended by closing up 144.8 points to 9,891.93.

The showing followed last week’s tumble of 536 points or 5.2% as buyers have become increasingly discouraged about the pace of an economic recovery.

The Canadian dollar headed up 0.96 of a cent to 86.82 cents US after the Conference Board of Canada said that Canada’s economy will begin to grow in the second half of this year and expand by 2.7% next year. The Bank of Canada’s latest Business Outlook Survey said that businesses foresee an improvement in the economic outlook.

`The Toronto stock market’s financial sector rose 2.7% and U.S. financial stocks got a boost after Goldman Sachs Group was upgraded to “buy” from “neutral” at Meredith Whitney Advisory Group. Goldman shares rose $7.36 to US$149.23 in New York.

Bullish sentiment on banks sent New York markets sharply higher with the Dow Jones industrial average up 185.16 points to 8,331.68.

The Nasdaq composite index moved 37.18 points higher to 1,793.21 while the S&P 500 index rose 21.92 points to 901.05.

Investors are awaiting earnings reports from some of the largest financial firms this week, including Goldman Sachs, which hands in earnings data Tuesday.

The earnings results will give investors a chance to gauge whether there was any meaningful economic improvement during the second quarter.

Meanwhile, oil prices were down slightly after losing about 10% last week as economic worries raise new questions about demand prospects. The August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped 20 cents to US$59.69.

Prices have fallen more than 20% since June 30 after poor unemployment data from the U.S. and Europe sparked doubts that the global economy was poised for a strong recovery this year.

The August bullion contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was $10 higher to US$922.50 an ounce and the gold sector climbed 0.8%.

(THE CANADIAN PRESS)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	8,331.68	+185.16 or +2.27%	-5.07%
S&P 500	901.05	+21.92 or +2.49%	-0.24%
NASDAQ	1,793.21	+37.18 or +2.12%	+13.71%
TSX Composite	9,891.93	+144.80 or +1.49%	+10.06%

International markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,050.33	-236.95 or -2.55%	+2.15%
Hang Seng	17,254.63	-453.79 or -2.56%	+19.93%
SENSEX	13,400.32	-103.90 or -0.77%	+38.90%
FTSE 100	4,202.13	+74.96 or +1.82%	-5.23%
CAC 40	3,052.08	+68.98 or +2.31%	-5.16%
DAX	4,722.34	+146.03 or +3.19%	-1.83%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	103.70	104.06	3.31
Cdn. 30-year bond	118.65	119.51	3.90
U.S. 10-year bond	98.09	98.59	3.35
U.S. 30-year bond	100.17	100.97	4.24

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8682	0.8587
US $	1.1518	1.1647

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6203	0.6155
Euro	1.6121	1.6246

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$908.50	$908.50

Oil	Close	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$60.01	+$0.12 or +0.20%

(07/13/09)