Market numbers: Monday, July 20, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market was set to get a lift Monday from higher oil prices and reports that U.S. commercial lender CIT Group has agreed with key bondholders on a deal that will help it avoid bankruptcy.

The TSX jumped 622 points or 6.38% last week as a string of U.S. earnings reports raised hopes for an economic recovery. However, investor enthusiasm was tested at week’s end by General Electric Corp.’s report where revenue missed expectations.

And Bank of America handed in a US$3 billion profit but CEO Ken Lewis warned “profitability in the second half of the year will be much tougher than the first half.”

There was relief after The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal said CIT’s board OK’d a deal late Sunday with major bondholders to receive US$3 billion in emergency funding.

The money will give the troubled company time to restructure and pay down billions of dollars in debt due later this year.

Worries about the fate of the debt-laden company have plagued investors over the past week, as CIT’s problems mounted and negotiations with federal regulators for bailout funds fell through.

New York futures were higher following the CIT news with the Dow industrials ahead 53 points to 8,750, the Nasdaq futures were up 7.5 points to 1,535.5 and the S&P 500 futures rose 6.8 points to 943.7.

TSX energy stocks were in for a boost as hopes for improving economic conditions sent the August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 93 cents to US$64.49 a barrel.

A day before the Bank of Canada makes its next announcement on interest rates, the Canadian dollar added to last week’s strong advances, as the dollar benefited from a weaker U.S. dollarand the strong showing on the stock markets. The loonie jumped 0.91 of a cent to 90.51 cents US after running ahead 3.74 US cents last week.

Other commodity prices also advances as the August bullion contract on the Nymex rose $14.40 to US$951.90 an ounce while September copper in New York added five cents to US$2.47 a pound.

Investors are also focused on the next wave of earnings reports coming this week.

On Monday morning, toy maker Hasbro Inc. said its second-quarter profit rose 5%, beating expectations, as strong U.S. revenue offset international sales hurt by the stronger dollar.

Meanwhile, oilfield services company Halliburton said its second-quarter profit tumbled 48% amid sluggish exploration and production activity.

Companies such as Canadian National Railways (TSX:CNR), Boston Scientific Corp. and Texas Instruments Inc. are also set to issue results during the day.

A string of good earnings news sent U.S. markets higher last week, sending both the Dow Jones industrials and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index up about 7%, their biggest weekly gains since early March, when the market’s spring rally began.

The huge advance came after a monthlong slide in stocks that was driven by reports showing the economy was not healing as quickly as hoped.

Asian stock markets extended their advance Monday, with investors emboldened by U.S. lender CIT Group’s eleventh-hour deal to stave off bankruptcy and optimism about corporate earnings.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 3.7% and South Korea’s Kospi added 2.7%.

London’s FTSE 100 climbed 1.37%, Frankfurt’s DAX rose 1.34% and the Paris CAC 40 gained 1.57%.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	8,743.94	+32.12 or +0.37%	-0.37%
S&P 500	940.38	-0.36 or -0.04%	+4.11%
NASDAQ	1,886.61	+1.58 or +0.08%	+19.63%
TSX Composite	10,369.42	+65.00 or +0.63%	+15.37%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,395.32	+51.16 or +0.55%	+6.05%
Hang Seng	19,502.37	+696.71 or +3.70%	+35.55%
SENSEX	15,191.01	+446.09 or +3.03%	+57.46%
FTSE 100	4,450.42	+61.67 or +1.41%	+0.37%
CAC 40	3,269.47	+51.01 or +1.58%	+1.60%
DAX	5,049.55	+71.15 or +1.43%	+4.98%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	102.21	102.81	3.48
Cdn. 30-year bond	116.54	117.64	4.01
U.S. 10-year bond	95.69	96.37	3.65
U.S. 30-year bond	95.22	96.87	4.54

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9051	0.8960
US $	1.1048	1.1161

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6366	0.6354
Euro	1.5708	1.5737

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$ 952.25	$937.50

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$64.53	+$0.97 or +1.53%

(07/20/09)