Market numbers: September 30, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market could get lift at the open on Wednesday from higher oil prices while investors look to data coming out during the morning on economic growth figures for Canada and the United States.

New York futures also pointed to a higher open as the Dow Jones industrial futures gained 34 points to 9,707, the Nasdaq futures climbed six points to 1,721.5 and the S&P 500 futures rose 4.6 points to 1,059.4.

The Canadian dollar rose 1.06 cents overnight to 93.18 cents US.

In Canada, economists expect that gross domestic product grew 0.5% in July from the previous month. That followed 0.1% growth in June.

Investors will also get a measure of the U.S. Commerce Department’s latest reading on second-quarter GDP.

In the government’s third estimate of gross domestic product for the April-June period, economists expect the economy contracted at a pace of 1.1 per cent.

While investors wait for the release of the government’s September jobs report later this week, they may get a sense of what those numbers will show when the ADP National Employment Report, a private-sector jobs tally, is issued.

The report is expected to show that private employers cut far fewer jobs in September than in August. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters expect a loss of 200,000 jobs, down from the 298,000 shed in August.

It is expected the U.S. employment report being released on Friday will show the American economy shed 188,000 jobs during September.

Oil prices firmed following a series of declines on demand concerns. The November crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 95 cents to US$67.66 a barrel.

Crude price rose despite data showing that U.S. oil inventories rose last week. The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude stocks increased 2.8 million barrels while analysts had expected a jump of 2.1 million barrels.

Metal prices also headed higher with the December gold contract on the Nymex ahead $7.60 to US$1,002 an ounce while December copper rose six cents to US$2.70 a pound.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 0.3% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng 0.3%.

China’s Shanghai index rose 0.9%.

London’s FTSE 100 index rose 0.17%, Frankfurt’s DAX gained 0.22 per cent while the Paris CAC 40 climbed 0.45%.

In Europe, sentiment was helped by German data showing the unemployment rate dropped to 8% in September from 8.3% in August, thanks largely to a traditional autumn upturn in the labour market. Still, the figure was better than many analysts expected.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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Dow Jones	9,742.20	-47.16 or -0.48%	+11.00%
S&P 500	1,060.61	-2.37 or -0.22%	+17.42%
NASDAQ	2,124.04	-6.70 or -0.31%	+34.69%
TSX Composite	11,394.99	+56.27 or +0.50%	+26.78%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,133.23	+33.03 or +0.33%	+14.38%
Hang Seng	20,955.25	-57.92 or -0.28%	+45.65%
SENSEX	17,126.84	+273.93 or +1.63%	+77.53%
FTSE 100	5,161.14	+1.42 or +0.03%	+16.39%
CAC 40	3,822.48	+8.38 or +0.22%	+18.79%
DAX	5,716.04	+2.52 or +0.04%	+18.83%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	103.48	103.48	3.33
Cdn. 30-year bond	119.29	119.32	3.86
U.S. 10-year bond	102.75	102.92	3.28
U.S. 30-year bond	108.22	108.19	4.02

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9318	0.9212
US $	1.0731	1.0855

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6363	0.6322
Euro	1.5716	1.5817

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$ 1001.25	$989.50

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$67.29	+$0.58 or +0.87%

(09/30/09)