Market numbers: Tuesday, July 14, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market looked set for a higher open Tuesday as signs of economic recovery in Asia kicked oil prices higher and investors awaited key earnings from the financial sector.

The main S&P/TSX index registered a 145-point advance Monday, led by a sharp gain in the banking group after prominent banking analyst Meredith Whitney upgraded her view on Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Investors will have a chance to see if her optimism was well-founded as Goldman – long considered one of the strongest banks amid the recession – is scheduled to release its second-quarter results Tuesday morning before the market opens.

Goldman kicks off a string of high-profile bank earnings reports for the week.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. are all expected to report second-quarter results later in the week.

Also raising investor sentiment Tuesday morning was a better than expected earnings report from U.S. drug giant Johnson & Johnson. The company posted earnings of US$3.2 billion, while also affirming its full-year outlook.

The Canadian dollar rose six tenths of a cent to 87.42 cents US.

U.S. futures indicated a strong opening in New York after the Whitney upgrade sent New York markets sharply higher on Monday. The Dow Jones industrial futures advanced 66 points to 8,325, the Nasdaq futures rose 6.25 points to 1,448.75 and the S&P 500 futures rose 7.1 points to 902.7.

Energy stocks looked set for gains as the August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.38 to US$ a barrel. Oil prices have plunged from a recent high of US$73.38 since the beginning of the month over demand concerns rooted in uncertainty about the strength of an economic recovery.

Prices got a lift Tuesday morning after Singapore said its economy surged an annualized, seasonally adjusted 20.4% in the second quarter, adding to hopes that Asia could lead the world out of recession and fuel crude demand.

"There’s evidence that Asia, led by China, is turning around quite quickly,” said David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.

"That’s where the demand growth potentially will be.”

Singapore was the first major Asian country to report second quarter gross domestic product. China, the world’s third-largest economy, is scheduled to announce GDP later this week.

Investors will also get two key economic reports Tuesday that should provide a glimpse of the health of the U.S. economy.

Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect retail sales increased 0.4% in June, compared with a 0.5% gain in May. Two consecutive months of growth would indicate the economy might be stabilizing.

And the Labour Department will release its monthly reading on wholesale prices. The Producer Price Index, which is a measure of inflation, likely rose 0.9% in June because of the rising cost of energy products.

There are no key Canadian economic reports out Tuesday.

The Toronto market could also see support from higher mining stocks as other commodity prices rose. The August gold contract on the Nymex rose $2.30 to US$924.80 an ounce while September copper in New York gained five cents to US$2.28 a pound.

Overseas, Asian markets sprang back to life Tuesday, invigorated by fresh hopes for improved bank earnings and the Singapore economic data.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average snapped a nine-day losing streak to gain 211.48 points, or 2.3%, to 9,261.81, erasing most of the previous day’s decline. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng vaulted 631.10, or 3.7%, to 17,885.73 and Australia’s key index leapt 3.5 %.

London’s FTSE 100 index gained 1.1%, Frankfurt’s DAX was up 1.37 per cent while the Paris CAC 40 moved ahead 1.14%.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	8,331.68	+185.16 or +2.27%	-5.07%
S&P 500	901.05	+21.92 or +2.49%	-0.24%
NASDAQ	1,793.21	+37.18 or +2.12%	+13.71%
TSX Composite	9,891.93	+144.80 or +1.49%	+10.06%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,261.81	+211.48 or +2.34%	+4.54%
Hang Seng	17,885.73	+631.10 or +3.66%	+24.31%
SENSEX	13,853.70	+453.38 or +3.38%	+43.60%
FTSE 100	4,234.45	+32.32 or +0.77%	-4.50%
CAC 40	3,076.23	+24.15 or +0.79%	-4.40%
DAX	4,770.54	+48.20 or +1.02%	-0.82%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	103.70	104.06	3.31
Cdn. 30-year bond	118.65	119.51	3.90
U.S. 10-year bond	98.09	98.59	3.35
U.S. 30-year bond	100.17	100.97	4.24

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8742	0.8682
US $	1.1439	1.1518

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6249	0.6203
Euro	1.6002	1.6121

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$ 921.75	$908.50

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$61.22	+$1.53 or +2.56%

(07/14/09)