P.M. market numbers: August 6, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market fell to a sharp loss Thursday amid news that Canada’s largest insurance company will cut its dividend in half.

The S&P/TSX composite index lost 253.56 points or 2.3% to 10,793.37, reversing four consecutive days of gains that had seen Toronto’s main index add more than five per cent.

Other insurance companies also took a beating on the news from Manulife.

In New York, markets were also lower amid sales figures that showed U.S. shoppers remained tight-fisted in July, resulting in sluggish sales for many merchants and raising concern about the health of the back-to-school shopping season.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 24.71 points to 9,256.26, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 19.89 points to 1,973.37. The S&P 500 slipped 5.64 points to 997.08.

The base metals sector was also a drag on the TSX, losing 3.6% on weaker metals prices.

The price of oil was slightly lower, losing three cents to US$71.94 a barrel on more evidence of consumer anxiety and growing supplies of unused crude and natural gas. The Toronto energy sector was down 1.1%.

The gold sector gained 0.2% as the December bullion contract lost $3.40 to US$962.90.

The loonie lost some of the gains it has racked up in recent days, falling 0.57 cent to 92.88 cents US.

(THE CANADIAN PRESS)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	9,256.26	-24.71 or -0.27%	+5.47%
S&P 500	997.08	-5.64 or -0.56%	+10.39%
NASDAQ	1,973.16	-19.89 or -1.00%	+25.12%
TSX Composite	10,820.13	-226.80 or -2.05%	+20.39%

International markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,388.09	+135.56 or +1.32%	+17.25%
Hang Seng	20,899.24	+404.47 or +1.97%	+45.26%
SENSEX	15,514.03	-389.80 or -2.45%	+60.81%
FTSE 100	4,690.53	+43.40 or +0.93%	+5.78%
CAC 40	3,477.83	+19.30 or +0.56%	+8.08%
DAX	5,369.98	+16.97 or +0.32%	+11.64%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	101.71	101.41	3.54
Cdn. 30-year bond	116.39	115.65	4.02
U.S. 10-year bond	94.84	94.84	3.76
U.S. 30-year bond	95.30	94.84	4.54

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9288	0.9345
US $	1.0767	1.0701

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6469	0.6483
Euro	1.5458	1.5425

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$960.75	$964.00

Oil	Close	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$71.99	+$0.02 or +0.03%

(08/06/09)