Market numbers: Thursday, June 18, 2009

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

Stock markets are likely in for a flat opening following a string of losses amid news that Canada’s annual inflation rate fell to virtually zero last month.

Statistics Canada said Thursday overall annual inflation stood at 0.1% in May, reflecting lower costs for energy. That was down from 0.4% the previous month. The Canadian dollar was down 0.19 of a cent to 88.23 cents US following the report.

The Toronto stock market is coming off four straight days of losses that carved 648 points, or almost 6.5%, from the main index. The market lost almost 250 points on Wednesday.

The TSX had soared as much as 40% during a rally that began in early March. But investors have turned cautious on fears a much hoped-for economic turnaround that drove stock prices higher will not be in place by the end of the year.

Commodity stocks have been the big decliner as oil prices in particular have weakened from seven month highs of US$73 a barrel.

The Toronto energy sector could be in for further selling pressure during Thursday’s session as the July crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 39 cents to US$70.64 cents US.

The August bullion contract on the Nymex was up $1.80 to US$937.80 an ounce.

The base metals sector could be in for selling pressure with the July copper contract down three cents to US$2.23 a pound.

U.S. index futures also pointed to a flat opening for American markets, which have also retreated over the past week.

New York markets were little changed Wednesday on economic concerns, a disappointing outlook from FedEx Corp. and a downgrade of 18 banks by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.

On Thursday morning, the Dow Jones futures dipped 13 points to 8,480, the Nasdaq futures were down six points to 1,447.5 and the S&P 500 futures eased 0.8 of a point to 904.5.

Investors are awaiting testimony from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on the White House’s proposed overhaul of the nation’s financial regulatory system.

Geithner is expected to testify before Senate and House committees on the proposals outlined by President Barack Obama on Wednesday. The plan would give new powers to the Federal Reserve to oversee the entire financial system and would also create a consumer protection agency to guard against credit and other abuses.

Investors are also awaiting data on weekly unemployment claims. Economists predict that new jobless claims changed little last week, but that the number of people continuing to receive unemployment benefits set a 20th straight record.

In corporate news, Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TCK.A, TSX:TCK.B) said Wednesday it has signed a deal to sell a one-third interest in its Waneta Dam in southeastern B.C. to BC Hydro for $825 million. The Vancouver-based mining company said it expects to book a pre-tax gain of $625 million on the sale that will be used to reduce debt.

Pilots at WestJet Airlines Ltd. (TSX:WJA) have voted 89% in favour of a new four-year contract, the company said Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

Iamgold Corp. (TSX:IMG), a Toronto-based miner with gold miner with projects in West Africa and specialty mineral output from Quebec, says it expects higher production and lower costs for this year. The company now projects production of about 910,000 to 920,000 ounces of gold, an increase of 30,000 to 40,000 ounces over previous guidance.

Asian stocks suffered their fourth straight day of losses Thursday amid a growing belief the markets were due for a reality check after the recent surge. European markets weakened in early trade.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average fell 1.4% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.7%.

London’s FTSE 100 index declined 0.8%, the German DAX lost 0.4% while the Paris CAC 40 slid 0.33%.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	8,497.18	-7.49 or -0.09%	-3.18%
S&P 500	910.71	-1.26 or -0.14%	+0.83%
NASDAQ	1,808.06	+11.88 or +0.66%	+14.65%
TSX Composite	10,066.11	-241.29 or -2.34%	+12.00%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,703.72	-137.13 or -1.39%	+9.53%
Hang Seng	17,776.66	-307.94 or -1.70%	+23.56%
SENSEX	14,265.53	-257.31 or -1.77%	+47.87%
FTSE 100	4,244.45	-34.01 or -0.79%	-4.28%
CAC 40	3,150.89	-10.25 or -0.32%	-2.08%
DAX	4,785.10	-14.88 or -0.31%	-0.52%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	102.68	102.63	3.43
Cdn. 30-year bond	118.74	118.81	3.89
U.S. 10-year bond	95.42	95.69	3.65
U.S. 30-year bond	95.75	96.47	4.46

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8823	0.8842
US $	1.1334	1.1310

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6343	0.6337
Euro	1.5765	1.5781

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$ 936.75	$930.50

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$70.46	-$0.57 or -0.80%

(06/18/09)