P.M. market numbers: August 7, 2009

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

News that the U.S. unemployment rate fell for the first time in 15 months propelled the Toronto stock market to a strong gain Friday, despite worse-than-expected jobs data for Canada.

The S&P/TSX composite index added 91.96 points to 10,885.33 on a report that U.S. employers sharply scaled back layoffs in July while the unemployment rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point to 9.4%.

Toronto’s main index was up 98 points or 0.9% on the week, its fourth consecutive week of gains in a row.

A net total of 247,000 jobs were lost in the United States last month, the fewest in a year and a sign that “the worst may be behind us” according to U.S. President Barack Obama. Analysts had forecast job losses of 320,000.

North of the border, Canada’s labour market shed another 45,000 jobs in July, almost triple the rate expected by analysts, although the national unemployment rate stayed steady at 8.6% as more people stopped looking for work.

Full-time employment and private sector jobs – the two most reliable indicators of labour market strength – both continued their downward trajectory.

The weak Canadian jobs data helped send the loonie tumbling 0.48 cent to 92.40 cents US.

Oil prices were lower, with the September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange losing $1.01 to US$70.93. The Toronto energy sector fell 0.1%.

The gold sector slipped 1.7 % as the December bullion contract lost $3.40 to US$959.50.

In New York, all the major indexes surged by more than 1% on hopes that the better-than-expected unemployment rate is a sign that the economic recovery is already well underway.

The Nasdaq composite index added 27.09 points to 2,000.25, while the Dow Jones industrial average gained 113.81 points to 9,370.07. The S&P 500 increased 13.40 points to 1,010.48.

(THE CANADIAN PRESS)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	9,370.07	+113.81 or +1.23%	+6.76%
S&P 500	1,010.48	+13.40 or +1.34%	+11.87%
NASDAQ	2,000.25	+27.09 or +1.37%	+26.84%
TSX Composite	10,885.33	+91.96 or +0.85%	+21.11%

International markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,412.09	+24.00 or +0.23%	+17.52%
Hang Seng	20,375.37	-523.87 or -2.51%	+41.62%
SENSEX	15,160.24	-353.79 or -2.28%	+57.14%
FTSE 100	4,731.56	+41.03 or +0.87%	+6.71%
CAC 40	3,521.14	+43.31 or +1.25%	+9.42%
DAX	5,458.96	+88.98 or +1.66%	+13.49%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	101.20	101.71	3.60
Cdn. 30-year bond	115.45	116.39	4.07
U.S. 10-year bond	94.03	94.84	3.85
U.S. 30-year bond	94.22	95.30	4.61

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9239	0.9288
US $	1.0823	1.0767

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

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$960.50	$956.00

Oil	Close	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$70.77	-$1.17 or -1.63%

(08/07/09)