P.M. market numbers: November 2, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market closed slightly lower Monday, extending last week’s steep losses loss despite good U.S. economic news and a solid profit report from Ford Motor Co.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 32.4 points to 10,878.35, with the market also weighed down by an analyst’s downgrade of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd.

The decline comes on top of a slide of more than 4% last week as economic growth and consumer sentiment figures raised fresh doubts about whether the economic revival justifies the sharp run-up in stocks seen since early March.

“I think we’re back in a market that’s going to pay extraordinarily high attention to every piece of data and once again there is going to be a skittish response, up and down a lot — but moving higher, it’s just going to be sort of a very bumpy ride higher,” said Kate Warne, Canadian market specialist at Edward Jones in St. Louis.

RIM shares fell $3.67 or 5.75% to $60.15 after Citigroup analyst Jim Suvam reduced his rating on the stock to “sell” from “buy.” He cited the impact of competing smart phones, especially Motorola Inc. phones using Google Inc.’s Android operating system.

Not all analysts shared Citigroup’s point of view.

“We have a buy rating on it,” said Warne. “And we continue to think there’s room in the very rapidly growing smartphone market for both RIM and Apple and other competitors.”

In New York, shares in Ford shot up 58 cents or 8.3% to US$7.58 after the automaker reported that gains in market share, cost cutting and the U.S. government’s Cash for Clunkers program led to a US$997-million profit in the third quarter.

Ford says it now expects to be “solidly profitable” in 2011. Previously the automaker has said it would be break-even or better.

The base metals sector led decliners, down almost 1% with the December copper contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange off one cent to US$2.94 a pound. HudBay Minerals declined 39 cents to $13.62.

The energy sector also gave back almost 1% despite the December crude contract in New York getting a strong lift from positive American manufacturing and housing data, rising US$1.13 to US$78.13 barrel. Canadian Natural Resources lost $1.74 to $68.48.

The gold sector was ahead 0.69% as December gold in New York rose to $13.60 to US$1,054 an ounce. Barrick Gold Corp. advanced 43 cents to $39.39.

The Canadian dollar headed up 0.35 of a US cent to 92.78 cents US.

The TSX Venture Exchange was off 1.79 points to 1,289.62.

New York’s Dow Jones industrial average closed up 76.71 points to 9,789.44.

The Nasdaq composite index moved 4.09 points higher to 2,049.2 while the S&P 500 index rose 6.68 points to 1,042.87.

Investor sentiment had improved after the latest reading on the U.S. manufacturing sector came in much better than expected. The Institute for Supply Management’s index came in at 55.7 for October, against the 53 reading that was forecast. The reading represented the strongest growth in the ISM since April 2006.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors said pending home sales in the United States increased for the eighth straight month in September. The index rose 6.1% from August to 110.1. It was the highest reading since December 2006. Economists had expected the index would be level at 103.8.

Other key economic data this week will offer investors a glimpse at the fourth quarter and be pivotal in determining where the market heads during the final months of the year.

Canadian and U.S. employment data for October is being released Friday, while the U.S. Federal Reserve will weigh in on the economy after the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.

On the earnings front, uranium miner Cameco Corp. shares declined 32 cents to $29.84 after it reported that net income rose to $172 million or 44 cents per share in the third quarter, up from $135 million or 39 cents per share in the same period of 2008. Adjusted net income was $104 million or 26 cents per share, down from $127 million or 37 cents per share in the third quarter of 2008. Revenue was $694 million, down from $729 million.

On Friday, Cameco said it has resumed draining its flooded Cigar Lake project and expects to have the mine pumped out sometime next year.

In other corporate news, BCE Inc. chief executive George Cope says the company’s new high-speed cellphone network will be up and running on Wednesday, a day before Telus launches its new fourth-generation network. Both telecoms will be able to carry Apple’s sought-after iPhone. Still, BCE shares were off 16 cents at $25.73.

Calgary-based oilsands junior UTS Energy Corp. plans to sell its half-interest in three northern Alberta properties to Imperial Oil Ltd. and its parent ExxonMobil Corp., freeing up $200 million for other projects in the region. UTS shares climbed six cents to $2.10.

(THE CANADIAN PRESS)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	9,789.44	+76.71 or +0.79%	+11.54%
S&P 500	1,042.88	+6.69 or +0.65%	+15.46%
NASDAQ	2,049.20	+4.09 or +0.20%	+29.94%
TSX Composite	10,878.35	-32.40 or -0.30%	+20.85%

International markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,802.95	-231.79 or -2.31%	+10.65%
Hang Seng	21,620.19	-132.68 or -0.61%	+50.27%
SENSEX	15,896.28	Closed	+64.77%
FTSE 100	5,104.50	+59.95 or +1.19%	+15.12%
CAC 40	3,639.46	+31.77 or +0.88%	+13.10%
DAX	5,430.82	+15.86 or +0.29%	+12.90%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	102.60	102.08	3.43
Cdn. 30-year bond	117.85	117.10	3.93
U.S. 10-year bond	101.67	101.92	3.42
U.S. 30-year bond	103.94	102.47	4.26

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9278	0.9243
US $	1.0778	1.0819

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6285	0.6280
Euro	1.5910	1.5923

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$1,052.00	$1,062.00

Oil	Close	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$77.89	+$0.89 or +1.16%

(11/02/09)