Market numbers: October 13, 2009

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

The Canadian dollar was at its highest level in well over a year Tuesday as the American greenback weakened and commodity prices continued to climb.

The loonie was up 1.43 cents in early trading from the previous close Friday after surging 3.37 cents US last week. It was at 97.18 cents, its highest since August 2008.

Meanwhile, the Toronto stock market is likely headed for a higher open as traders get back to work following the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday with energy stocks likely to benefit from the latest runup in crude prices.

The November crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped 90 cents to US$74.17 a barrel on top of Monday’s rise of $1.50 amid expectations of stronger demand during the winter.

The weakening U.S. dollar makes commodities – which are priced in the U.S. currency – cheaper for international investors and increase their appeal as protection against inflation.

Other commodity prices also advanced with December gold on the Nymex ahead $8.90 to US$1,066.40 an ounce while copper was unchanged at US$2.86 a pound.

American markets also looked set for a slightly higher open with the Dow Jones industrial futures ahead nine points to 9,828, the Nasdaq futures up 1.75 points to 1,729.5, and the S&P 500 futures rose 0.4 of a point to 1,071.9.

Both the Toronto and New York markets gained about four per cent last week, driven by higher oil prices and expectations for upbeat earnings reports, stoked by solid profits at companies like Alcoa Inc. and Royal Philips Electronics.

Investors want to see signs that businesses and consumers are picking up their spending and that companies have been able to drive higher profits through revenue growth, not just through deep cost cuts, which helped boost income in the second quarter.

On Tuesday, health care giant Johnson & Johnson posted a 1% increase in third-quarter profit and beats Wall Street expectations, even though generic competition reduced its sales.

The maker of Band-Aids, biotech drugs and Acuvue contact lenses says it earned US$3.35 billion in the quarter, or $1.20 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting lower earnings per share, at $1.13, and revenue of US$15.19 billion in the latest quarter.

J&J just missed the revenue forecast, reporting total sales of US$15.08 billion. That’s down five % from a year ago and its shares declined 73 cents to US$61.80 in pre-market trading in New York.

Overseas, most Asian stock markets advanced with Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average up 0.6% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.8%.

Shanghai’s benchmark was up 1.4%.

London’s FTSE 100 index added 0.1%, Frankfurt’s DAX was off 0.22% and the Paris CAC 40 slipped 0.19%.

In corporate news, General Motors could finalize the sale of its German auto unit Opel as early as this week, about a month ahead of schedule, the U.S. automaker’s CEO Fritz Henderson said Tuesday.

Despite labour union objections over possible job losses, the sale of GM’s Opel and Vauxhall units to Canadian autoparts supplier Magna International Inc., (TSX:MG.A) which along with Russia’s state-owned Sberbank acquired a 65% stake in the German-based Opel from General Motors Co. last month, is expected to go ahead, Henderson told reporters.

NAL Oil & Gas Trust (TSX: NAE.UN) has agreed to acquire Calgary-based Breaker Energy Ltd. (TSX: WAV) in a deal valued at $403 million.

The Breaker deal, which is expected to close early December, will be the fourth significant transaction for NAL Oil & Gas this year.

NAL also acquired Alberta Clipper and Spearpoint Energy and entered a joint venture to develop the Cardium oil play.

Norbord Inc. (TSX:NBD), a troubled wood panel manufacturer controlled by Brookfield Asset Management (TSX:BAM.A), said Tuesday it plans a reverse stock split that will reduce the number of shares outstanding.

Norbord’s shareholders will receive one consolidated share for every 10 they hold prior to the transaction, effective Oct. 16.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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Dow Jones	9,885.80	+20.86 or +0.21%	+12.64%
S&P 500	1,076.19	+4.70 or +0.44%	+19.15%
NASDAQ	2,139.14	-0.14 or -0.01%	+35.64%
TSX Composite	NA	NA	NA

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,076.56	+60.17 or +0.60%	+13.06%
Hang Seng	21,467.36	+168.01 or +0.79%	+49.43%
SENSEX	17,026.67	+384.01 or +2.31%	+72.51%
FTSE 100	5,206.11	-4.06 or -0.08%	+16.18%
CAC 40	3,829.83	-15.97 or -0.42%	+18.09%
DAX	5,758.20	-25.03 or -0.43%	+18.75%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	NA	NA	NA
Cdn. 30-year bond	NA	NA	NA
U.S. 10-year bond	102.16	103.14	3.19
U.S. 30-year bond	105.18	107.09	3.28

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9718	NA
US $	1.0290	NA

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6533	NA
Euro	1.5307	NA

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$ 1064.50	$1050.00

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$74.13	+$0.86 or +1.17%

(10/13/09)