Market numbers: Wednesday, July 8, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market could be headed for a third straight loss amid falling oil prices and hopes for a quick economic rebound.

Oil prices were lower for a sixth straight day from a peak of above US$73 last week as investors think demand prospects do not warrant the sharp runup in prices seen over the past few months.

The August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 62 cents to US$62.31 a barrel after tumbling $1.12 on Tuesday.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.01 of a cent to 85.77 cents US.

Sliding oil prices contributed to a 183-point plunge on the Toronto market on Tuesday, the second straight triple-digit tumble this week.

U.S. markets headed for a flat opening after also sustaining big losses on Tuesday.

Dow Jones industrial average futures are up one point at 8,130, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures are down 0.6 of a point at 878.7. Nasdaq 100 index futures are down 1.25 points at 1,406.75.

The second-quarter earnings reporting season kicks off in the U.S. after the close and investors are awaiting for aluminum maker Alcoa Inc. to give some guidance about the economy.

Wall Street analysts expect Alcoa to post a second-quarter loss of 38 cents per share. In the same period a year earlier, Alcoa earned 66 cents per share on revenue of US$7.6 billion.

Overseas markets were also weak.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average extended its losing streak to a sixth day, falling 2.2% to 9,434.91, after worse-than-expected machinery orders data disappointed investors and fanned concerns about the fragility of the world’s second-biggest economy.

A recovery in capital spending “remains distant,” especially with Japan’s high dependence on exports, said Chiwoong Lee, an economist at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index slid 301 points, or 1.7%, to 17,560.97.

London’s FTSE 100 index dipped 0.14%, Frankfurt’s DAX was off 0.05% while the Paris CAC 40 lost 0.8%.

Losses on stock markets have accelerated in the past week amid economic data that has suggested global economies still have a long way to go before going into recovery mode.

Unemployment in Europe surged in May to a 10-year high with more than 15 million people out of work. In the United States, the jobless rate jumped to a 26-year high of 9.5% in June as U.S. employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs.

Canadian job data for June is released Friday and economists expect it to show the economy shed about 30,000 jobs during the month.

Other commodity prices fell alongside oil. The August bullion contract on the Nymex was down $8.10 to US$921 an ounce while the September copper contract in New York was off a penny to US$2.21 a pound.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	8,163.60	-161.27 or -1.94%	-6.98%
S&P 500	881.03	-17.69 or -1.97%	-2.46%
NASDAQ	1,746.17	-41.23 or -2.31%	+10.73%
TSX Composite	9,844.35	-183.08 or -1.83%	+9.53%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,420.75	-227.04 or -2.35%	+6.33%
Hang Seng	17,721.07	-141.20 or -0.79%	+23.17%
SENSEX	13,769.15	-401.30 or -2.83%	+42.73%
FTSE 100	4,178.34	-8.66 or -0.21%	-5.77%
CAC 40	3,028.57	-20.00 or -0.66%	-5.89%
DAX	4,595.85	-2.34 or -0.05%	-4.46%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	103.57	103.58	3.32
Cdn. 30-year bond	119.60	119.54	3.85
U.S. 10-year bond	97.31	96.88	3.45
U.S. 30-year bond	99.13	98.34	4.30

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.8577	0.8576
US $	1.1668	1.1661

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6168	0.6164
Euro	1.6212	1.6223

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$920.75	$924.00

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$62.30	-$0.63 or -1.00%

(07/08/09)