P.M. market numbers: November 25, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market closed sharply higher Wednesday as oil and metal prices shot up and investors took in positive U.S. consumer and housing data.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 97.27 points to 11,636.9 as the U.S. Commerce Department reported that consumer spending rose a brisk 0.7% last month, following a 0.6% pullback in September.

The Canadian dollar was up 1.13 cents to 95.65 cents US. The advance came amid a weaker greenback while currency analysts at Scotiabank said the rise was also due to news that the Russian central bank is preparing to invest some of its foreign exchange reserves in the loonie. No amount has been confirmed.

The base metals sector was the best TSX performer, rising 2.59% amid a 5.15-cent rise in the December copper contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange to US$3.16 a pound.

The gold sector was up 1.86% as the December bullion contract on the Nymex continued to head higher into record territory, closing up $21.20 to US$1,187 an ounce because of a weak U.S. currency and speculation that the Indian central bank will buy more gold.

The energy sector was up 1.18% with the January crude contract in New York up $1.94 to US$77.96 a barrel even as the U.S. government reported that another one million barrels of crude and an equal amount of gasoline went into storage last week.

New York indexes were modestly higher as an unexpected drop in durable goods orders took some of the shine off the consumer data and positive news from the housing sector ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 30.69 points to 10,464.4 after the U.S. Commerce Department said that new home sales rose 6.2% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000 from an upwardly revised 405,000 in September, the highest level in more than a year. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a pace of 410,000.

The Nasdaq composite index moved 6.87 points higher to 2,176.05 while the S&P index was up 4.98 points to 1,110.63 even as orders for big-ticket factory goods fell unexpectedly by 0.6% in October. Much of the weakness came from an 18.4% drop in defence orders. Excluding those, orders for other types of manufactured goods rose 0.4% in October.

Still, the performance was weaker than the 0.5% rise that economists had expected.

Also, the U.S. Labour Department said new claims for unemployment insurance fell by 35,000 to 466,000. That’s the fewest claims since the week ended Sept. 13, 2008, and was far better than the 500,000 that economists had expected.

And the University of Michigan’s final report on consumer sentiment for November was revised up to 67.4 from a preliminary reading of 66, but is still below the October reading of 70.6.

U.S. markets are closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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Dow Jones	10,433.71	-17.24 or -0.16%	+18.88%
S&P 500	1,105.65	-0.59 or -0.05%	+22.41%
NASDAQ	2,169.18	-6.83 or -0.31%	+37.55%
TSX Composite	11,539.63	-84.39 or -0.73%	+28.39%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,441.64	+40.06 or +0.43%	+6.57%
Hang Seng	22,611.80	+188.66 or +0.84%	+57.16%
SENSEX	17,198.95	+67.87 or +0.40%	+78.28%
FTSE 100	5,323.96	-31.54 or -0.59%	+20.07%
CAC 40	3,784.62	-28.55 or -0.75%	+17.61%
DAX	5,769.31	-32.17 or -0.55%	+19.94%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	104.08	103.83	3.25
Cdn. 30-year bond	119.65	119.42	3.84
U.S. 10-year bond	100.94	100.56	3.26
U.S. 30-year bond	102.47	102.03	4.23

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9564	0.9451
US $	1.0455	1.0580

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6316	0.6316
Euro	1.5833	1.5833

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$1,176.50	$1,179.75

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$77.78	+$1.76 or +2.32%

(11/25/09)