P.M. market numbers: August 13, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market closed sharply higher as commodity and financials stocks bounded ahead in the wake of an improved take on the economy by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Traders were seemingly unfazed at data released Thursday showing that U.S. retail sales fell unexpectedly in July while more Americans filed for unemployment benefits.

The S&P/TSX composite index ran ahead 165.69 points to 10,825.56 after the U.S. central bank said Wednesday at the end of its two-day meeting that the economy appears to be “levelling out” rather than shrinking at a slower rate.

But investors were taken aback by grim U.S. data showing that retail sales fell 0.1% in July, while economists expected a gain of 0.7%.

Results would have been even worse had it not been for a boost in auto sales thanks to the Cash for Clunkers autos trade-in program. Excluding autos, retail sales fell 0.6%, compared with expectations for a gain of 0.1%.

The U.S. government also said the number of workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week rose to a seasonally adjusted 558,000, compared with expectations for 545,000.

Commodity and financial stocks led advancers. The energy sector moved up 1.88% as the September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange moved ahead 36 cents to US$70.52 a barrel.

The Canadian dollar was off 0.05 of a cent to 91.83 cents US.

New York markets registered modest gains despite the economic reports amid positive earnings from Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The Dow Jones industrial average was 36.58 points higher to 9,398.19.

The Nasdaq composite index gained 10.63 points to 2,009.35, while the S&P 500 index was up 6.92 points to 1,012.73.

Wal-Mart reported second-quarter profit virtually unchanged from a year ago, but results beat Wall Street expectations.

The December bullion contract on the Nymex was up $4 to US$956.50 an ounce, taking the gold sector 2.78% higher.

(THE CANADIAN PRESS)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	9,398.19	+36.58 or +0.39%	+7.08%
S&P 500	1,012.73	+6.92 or +0.69%	+12.12%
NASDAQ	2,009.35	+10.63 or +0.53%	+27.41%
TSX Composite	10,825.56	+165.69 or +1.55%	+20.45%

International markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,517.19	+82.19 or +0.79%	+18.71%
Hang Seng	20,861.30	+426.06 or +2.08%	+45.00%
SENSEX	15,518.49	+498.33 or +3.32%	+60.86%
FTSE 100	4,755.46	+38.70 or +0.82%	+7.25%
CAC 40	3,524.39	+17.15 or +0.49%	+9.52%
DAX	5,401.11	+51.02 or +0.95%	+12.28%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	102.05	101.95	3.50
Cdn. 30-year bond	117.19	116.79	3.97
U.S. 10-year bond	100.22	95.30	3.60
U.S. 30-year bond	97.14	95.95	4.42

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9183	0.9188
US $	1.0890	1.0884

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6431	0.6465
Euro	1.5555	1.5468

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$956.00	$953.50

Oil	Close	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$70.95	+$0.79 or +1.13%

(08/13/09)