Market numbers: September 21, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market headed for a lower opening Monday as investors appear ready take some profits following another week of strong gains.

Overseas markets were also lower and U.S. futures pointed to a weak open as investors look to this week’s Federal Reserve meeting for more clues about the strength of the U.S. recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial futures declined 42 points to 9,691, the Nasdaq futures were down eight points to 1,713.2 to while the S&P 500 futures lipped 5.7 points to 1,055.3.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.63 of a cent to 92.85 cents US.

Toronto commodity stocks will be under selling pressure at the open as oil prices headed lower after rising almost US$3 last week on hopes for a strong economic recovery. On Monday, the October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange declined $1.47 US$70.57 a barrel.

Mining stocks could also give back ground as the December bullion contract lost $9.30 to US$1,001 an ounce while December copper dipped two cents to US$2.77 a pound.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (TSX:POT) will be in focus at the open after the world’s biggest fertilizer producer lowered its 2009 earnings target on Friday.

The company now expects full-year earnings to be between $3.25 to $3.75 per share, down from earlier guidance for earnings of $4 to $5 per share provided in July. Third-quarter earnings per share are expected to be at the low end of its 80 cent to $1.20 forecast because of weak sales brought about by reduced demand and limited restocking of potash fertilizers by distributors worldwide.

Investors also took in major dealmaking in the tech sector as Dell Inc. said Monday it has agreed to buy information technology services company Perot Systems Corp. for about US$3.9 billion as it looks to expand beyond the personal computer business. Dell will offer US$30 per share in cash for Perot, which represents a 68% premium over Perot’s closing share price Friday.

The Toronto market ran ahead 193 points or 1.71% last week, its fourth straight weekly gain. The performance left the TSX up just over 50% since the spring rally got under way in early March. But analysts are concerned that the market has gone pretty much straight up and believe a minor pullback would be welcome.

The Dow industrials had an even better showing for the week, ahead 215 points or 2.3% after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke declared the U.S. recession was “likely over.” Investors are now waiting to see what the rest of the Fed has to say this week during its two-day rate-setting meeting, which begins Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a private sector group’s forecast of economic activity on Monday should provide further evidence that the recession is ending. The U.S. Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators is expected to have risen 0.7% in August. The index, which is meant to project economic activity in the next three to six months, climbed 0.6% in July.

Overseas stocks were also lower as London’s FTSE 100 index declined 0.66%, Frankfurt’s DAX was down 1.24% and the Paris CAC 40 slipped 0.75%.

In Asia, a number of markets across the region including Japan were closed for holidays.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was down 0.2% while China’s Shanghai benchmark was up 0.2%.

In other corporate news, Consumers’ Waterheater Income Fund (TSX:CWI.UN) has reduced its monthly distributions to unitholders by half to 5.4 cents per unit, or 64.8 cents on an annualized basis, effective with the payout scheduled for Oct. 30.

Atrium Innovations Inc. (TSX:ATB), a Quebec-based maker of nutrition products, says it will acquire U.S.-based supplement maker Garden of Life Inc. for cash and stock worth US$35 million.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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Dow Jones	9,820.20	+36.28 or +0.37%	+11.89%
S&P 500	1,068.30	+2.81 or +0.26%	+18.27%
NASDAQ	2,132.86	+6.11 or +0.29%	+35.25%
TSX Composite	11,445.95	-82.28 or -0.71%	+27.35%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,370.54	-73.26 or -0.70%	+17.05%
Hang Seng	21,472.85	-150.60 or -0.70%	+49.25%
SENSEX	16,741.30	+30.19 or +0.18	+73.53%
FTSE 100	5,131.13	-41.76 or -0.81%	+15.72%
CAC 40	3,801.47	-26.37 or -0.69%	+18.13%
DAX	5,632.75	-71.08 or -1.25%	+17.10%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	102.94	103.28	3.39
Cdn. 30-year bond	118.39	119.12	3.91
U.S. 10-year bond	101.30	101.01	3.47
U.S. 30-year bond	104.69	105.69	4.22

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9285	0.9348
US $	1.0801	1.0697

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6334	0.6358
Euro	1.5787	1.5727

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$ 999.25	$1012.00

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$70.50	-$1.54 or -2.14%

(09/21/09)