Market numbers: September 15, 2009

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

North American stock markets appeared heading for a sluggish open as investors look to a trio of U.S. economic reports coming out during the morning that could provide insight into any potential economic recovery.

The Toronto stock market could find traction at the open from higher oil prices as investors weigh concerns about weak crude demand against optimism of a global economic recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial futures moved up 12 points to 9,562, the Nasdaq futures edged up 0.8 of a point top 1,688.8 while the S&P 500 futures added 0.9 of a point to 1,044.4 ahead of reports on retail sales, wholesale prices and business inventories.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.27 of a cent to 92.02 cents US.

The October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 46 cents to US$69.32 a barrel.

Other commodities were weak with the December bullion contract on the Nymex down $2.20 to US$998.90 an ounce while December copper was unchanged at US$2.8045 a pound.

In the background of trading this week are memories of the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers a year ago, which triggered the worst global financial crisis in 70 years.

Stock markets didn’t bottom until early March and since then, the main Toronto index has roared ahead 50% and some analysts say markets are ripe for some sort of retracement.

"It may be the one-year anniversary of the Lehman failure, but stocks haven’t fallen out of bed in memory of the event,” said Andrew Pyle, investment adviser at Scotia McLeod in Peterborough, Ont.

"That said, there hasn’t been a ton of enthusiasm to buy either which again is being played up as either exhaustion in this six-month rally, lack of conviction or simply a sign that all the good news has been built in.”

European and Asian markets were positive after investor confidence was shaken Monday by a trade dispute between the U.S. and China, which raised concerns of a full-out trade war.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average closed the day up 0.2%, Shanghai’s benchmark gained 0.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.3%.

London’s FTSE 100 index was ahead 0.4%, Frankfurt’s DAX was flat as a study showed that German investor confidence rose slightly in September to its highest level in over three years on mounting expectations for a gradual recovery, but stopped short of most economists’ forecasts. The Paris CAC 40 rose 0.4%.

In corporate news, Garda World Security Corp. (TSX:GW) had a $4-million profit in its latest quarter, as the armoured truck operator’s revenue increased and the company continued to keep a close watch on its expenses. The figure compared with a net loss $1.2 million a year earlier.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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Dow Jones	9,626.80	+21.39 or +0.22%	+9.69%
S&P 500	1,049.34	+6.61 or +0.63%	+16.17%
NASDAQ	2,091.78	+10.88 or +0.52%	+32.64%
TSX Composite	11,332.04	+78.81 or +0.70%	+26.08%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,217.62	+15.56 or +0.15%	+15.33%
Hang Seng	20,866.37	-65.83 or -0.31%	+45.03%
SENSEX	16,454.45	+240.26 or +1.48%	+70.56%
FTSE 100	5,035.57	+16.72 or +0.33%	+13.56%
CAC 40	3,740.49	+9.88 or +0.26%	+16.24%
DAX	5,613.59	-6.65 or -0.12%	+16.70%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	103.23	103.53	3.32
Cdn. 30-year bond	118.69	119.24	3.86
U.S. 10-year bond	101.72	102.38	3.42
U.S. 30-year bond	104.51	105.53	4.23

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9202	0.9229
US $	1.0867	1.0835

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6311	0.6313
Euro	1.5846	1.5841

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$997.50	$999.25

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$69.36	+$0.50 or +0.73%

(09/15/09)