P.M. market numbers: August 27, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market closed slightly higher Thursday, thanks in large part to strong earnings from three of the big Canadian banks.

It was another volatile day on the S&P/TSX composite index, which lost as much as 104 points before rallying to close up 21.79 points to 10,933.96.

The energy sector led declines, down 1.17% even as oil prices moved higher.

The October crude oil contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.06 to US$72.49 a barrel following two days of losses that had carved about US$3 from the price of oil.

The Canadian dollar moved higher following two days of sharp declines that followed a warning from the Bank of Canada that it is prepared to intervene to stop the sharp rise of the loonie that could derail the economic recovery. The loonie closed up 1.02 cents to 92.11 cents U.S.

New York markets strengthened as gross domestic product data showed the U.S. economy might be stabilizing.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 37.11 points to 9,580.63 as a U.S. Commerce Department report showed the U.S. economy shrank at a 1% annualized rate in the second quarter. The updated figure was unchanged from a preliminary reading that economists had predicted would be revised lower to a 1.5% decline. roduction.”

The Nasdaq composite index was 3.3 points higher at 2,027.73 while the S&P 500 index was up 2.86 points to 1,030.98.

Investors are worried about extending the market’s spring and summer rally, in which stocks have risen more than 45% off of multi-year lows since early March.

Analysts say the market has been running out of reasons to move higher and is now looking for more convincing signs of recovery in the economy before resuming its upward march.

Other commodity prices were mixed as the December bullion contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.50 to US$947.30 an ounce while September copper was down 0.85 of a cent at $2.8485 a pound.

(THE CANADIAN PRESS)

North American markets

Back to Top

	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	9,580.63	+37.11 or +0.39%	+9.16%
S&P 500	1,030.98	+2.86 or +0.28%	+14.14%
NASDAQ	2,027.73	+3.30 or +0.16%	+28.58%
TSX Composite	10,933.96	+21.79 or +0.20%	+21.65%

International markets

Back to Top

	Close	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,473.97	-165.74 or -1.56%	+18.22%
Hang Seng	20,242.75	-213.57 or -1.04%	+40.70%
SENSEX	15,781.07	+11.22 or +0.07%	+63.58%
FTSE 100	4,869.35	-21.23 or -0.43%	+9.81%
CAC 40	3,648.53	-19.81 -0.54%	+13.38%
DAX	5,470.33	-51.64 or -0.94%	+13.72%

Bonds

Back to Top

Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	102.96	102.97	3.39
Cdn. 30-year bond	118.66	118.56	3.89
U.S. 10-year bond	101.34	101.59	3.43
U.S. 30-year bond	104.53	105.14	4.23

Currency

Back to Top

BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9211	0.9112
US $	1.0856	1.0975

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6416	0.6394
Euro	1.5587	1.5640

Commodities

Back to Top

Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$943.50	$943.00

Oil	Close	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$72.79	+$1.36 or +1.90%

(08/27/09)