Market numbers: October 07, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market appeared set to open flat Wednesday morning after a furious two-day rally, as investors await the kickoff of earnings season.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained close to 300 points or 2.6% in the first two days of trading this week amid sharply higher commodity prices and investor confidence that the economic rebound has staying power.

On Tuesday, the December bullion contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $21.90 to close at a record high of US$1,039.70.

The price of gold continued its upward climb Wednesday morning, gaining $3.30 to US$1,043. Meanwhile, the November crude oil contract added 26 cents to US$71.14.

The loonie, which gained a full two cents against the U.S. dollar in the first two days of trading this week, was up 0.16 cent to 94.54 cents US.

With few economic reports due out the rest of the week, quarterly earnings will take centre stage when aluminum company Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) reports results after the market closes, officially kicking off the third-quarter earnings season.

Earnings will provide strong insight into just how far any economic rebound has been so far. During the second quarter, companies largely beat modest earnings expectations by cutting costs and streamlining operations. That helped fuel the market’s rally throughout the summer.

Now, though, investors will be looking for actual growth in revenue and sales as the driver of earnings. That would indicate companies are starting to get their footing again and consumers are back to buying goods and services.

A report from the U.S. Federal Reserve, due out at 3 p.m. EDT, is expected to show consumers cut back on their borrowing for the seventh consecutive month in August. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, forecast consumer borrowing fell an annualized $10 billion in August.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose eight points, or 0.1%, to 9,662. Standard&Poor’s 500 index futures rose 0.4, or less than 0.1%, to 1,049.00, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 2.5, or 0.2%, to 1,703.25.

Stocks in New York have also surged in the past two days, with the Dow gaining 244 points, its best back-to-back gains since July. The resurgence comes after back-to-back weekly declines.

Tuesday’s gains came as investors again rallied around signs of a global economic recovery. Australia’s central bank raised interest rates, an indication the country believes the worst part of the downturn is over.

In Canadian corporate news, Ciena Corp. (Nasdaq:CIEN) is offering cash and stock worth US$521 million to acquire some of Nortel Network Corp.’s most-prized remaining business units.

The deal covers the Nortel Optical Networking and Carrier Ethernet businesses, which have been considered among the best assets yet to be sold by the fallen technology equipment giant.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 1.1%. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.3%, Germany’s DAX index declined 0.1%, and France’s CAC-40 dropped 0.1%.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

Back to Top

Dow Jones	9,731.25	+131.50 or +1.37%	+10.88%
S&P 500	1,054.72	+14.26 or +1.37%	+16.77%
NASDAQ	2,103.57	+35.42 or +1.71%	+33.39%
TSX Composite	11,247.97	+145.35 or +1.31%	+25.15%

International markets

Back to Top

	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,799.60	+107.80 or +1.11%	+10.61%
Hang Seng	21,241.59	+430.06 or +2.07%	+47.64%
SENSEX	16,806.66	-151.88 or -0.90%	+74.21%
FTSE 100	5,114.58	-23.40 or -0.46%	+15.34%
CAC 40	3,761.15	-9.06 or -0.24%	+16.88%
DAX	5,640.24	-17.40 or -0.31%	+17.26%

Bonds

Back to Top

Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	103.75	104.25	3.29
Cdn. 30-year bond	119.70	120.40	3.84
U.S. 10-year bond	103.09	103.43	3.26
U.S. 30-year bond	107.47	108.47	4.07

Currency

Back to Top

BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9454	0.9437
US $	1.0577	1.0596

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6436	0.6412
Euro	1.5539	1.5595

Commodities

Back to Top

Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$ 1047.00	$1038.75

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$71.21	+$0.33 or +0.47%

(10/07/09)