Market numbers: Thursday, July 2, 2009

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

North American markets appear headed for a lower open as investors cope with concerns about rising unemployment in the U.S.

The U.S. Labor Department’s unemployment figures for last month are due out before the markets open.

Economists expect the country’s jobless rate rose to 9.6% last month from 9.4% in May, potentially marking a 26-year high.

The rate is seen as a key barometer in the nation’s economic recovery.

A moderating unemployment rate would provide further evidence that the worst of the recession is over and the economy is starting to improve.

Overseas markets were also lower after a report showed unemployment in the 16 countries that use the euro rose to a 10-year high in May. That reinforced concerns that any recovery in the global economy will take time.

The Toronto Stock Market was closed for Canada Day on Wednesday, but concluded the second quarter with steep losses the day before.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 101.86 points to 10,374.91 on Tuesday, but ultimately posted gains of 19% on the quarter.

Tuesday’s losses were led by a 2% drop in the financial sector amid an announcement from credit rating agency DBRS that it was downgrading the preferred shares of the big six Canadian banks.

DBRS said the downgrade relates to "the elevated risk of non-payment of preferred dividends relative to the risk of default indicated by senior debt ratings.”

It added that the downgrades do not reflect any specific credit event.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Index kicked off the third quarter with a modest gain of 57.06 points to close at 8,504.06.

Ahead of the U.S. jobs report and the market open, Dow futures fell 48, or 0.6%, to 8,400. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures declined 6.70, or 0.7%, to 912.50, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 8.75, or 0.6 per cent, to 1,470.00.

The Canadian dollar opened at 86.71 cents US, up 0.73 of a cent from Tuesday’s close.

Light, sweet crude for August delivery was down $1.35 to US$67.96 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.6%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 1.1%. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.7%, Germany’s DAX index declined 1.6%, and France’s CAC-40 fell 1.3%.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	8,447.00	-82.38 or -0.97%	-3.75%
S&P 500	919.32	-7.91 or -0.85%	+1.78%
NASDAQ	1,835.04	-9.02 or -0.49%	+16.36%
TSX Composite	10,374.91	-101.86 or -0.97%	+15.43%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,876.15	-63.78 or -0.64%	+11.47%
Hang Seng	18,178.05	-200.68 or -1.09%	+26.35%
SENSEX	14,658.49	+13.02 or +0.09%	+51.94%
FTSE 100	4,301.92	-38.79 or -0.89%	-2.98%
CAC 40	3,183.85	-33.15 or -1.03%	-1.06%
DAX	4,828.26	-77.18 or -1.57%	+0.38%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	103.33	103.01	3.35
Cdn. 30-year bond	119.49	118.84	3.85
U.S. 10-year bond	96.75	97.00	3.52
U.S. 30-year bond	98.89	99.09	4.32

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8671	0.8598
US $	1.1532	1.1630

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6172	0.6130
Euro	1.6202	1.6312

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$ 936.00	$934.50

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$ 68.28	-$1.03 or -1.49%

(07/02/09)