P.M. market numbers: November 30, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market closed slightly lower as investors continued to try to gauge the impact of the Dubai debt crisis while taking in news that the Canadian economy has exited recession by putting in a positive quarter of growth.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 17.21 points to 11,447.2, led by losses in tech and industrial stocks.

The market got some lift from financials ahead of earnings reports this week.

The sluggish showing followed a loss of one per cent last week in the wake of an announcement from Dubai’s investment arm, Dubai World, that it wants at least a six-month reprieve from paying some of its roughly US$60-billion debt.

The move raised fears that Dubai’s debt problems could lead to more financial instability.

“The difference between last week and today is that last week people were worrying it would spread further and that what you would see is a broader selloff,” said Kate Warne, Canadian markets specialist at Edward Jones in St. Louis.

“It does however signal how first, skittish, but then second fragile the world’s confidence is right now.”

Statistics Canada reported gross domestic product increased 0.1 per cent in the third quarter, the first quarterly gain since the third quarter of 2008. Real GDP was up 0.4 per cent in September following a 0.1 per cent dip in August as most major industrial sectors increased their production.

“This sets the table for a much better fourth quarter, where we are looking for an advance of just over a three per cent annual rate,” said BMO Capital Markets deputy chief economist Doug Porter.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.52 of a cent to 94.73 cents US following the report.

The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 9.46 points to 1,415.06.

The tech sector was the leading loser, down 1.45 per cent with Celestica Inc. (TSX:CLS) off 34 cents to $8.58.

The industrials sector fell almost one per cent with shares in transportation giant Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) down 13 cents to $4.48. Canadian National Railway (TSX:CNR) shares slipped 34 cents to $55.30 after the federal government introduced legislation to end the strike against the railway by 1,700 locomotive engineers. The government called the strike, which started early Saturday, a threat to the still fragile economy.

The financial sector was up 0.3 per cent ahead of earnings reports this week from National Bank (TSX:NA), TD Bank (TSX:TD), CIBC (TSX:CM) and Royal Bank (TSX:RY). Bank of Montreal, which handed in earnings last week, rose 82 cents to $53.75.

The energy sector was off 0.2 per cent as oil prices headed higher, with the January crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange up $1.23 to US$77.28 a barrel. The Dubai shock carved almost US$2 a barrel from the price of oil on Friday.

The base metals sector was flat after uncertainty surrounding the Dubai issue sent commodity prices down sharply at the end of last week. On Monday, December copper was up 5.5 cents at US$3.15 a pound. Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) advanced 10 cents to $36.49.

The December bullion contract on the Nymex climbed $6.90 to US$1,181.10 an ounce.

New York markets finished higher after reports that Dubai is working to restructure its debt sparked a late-day rally in financial stocks.

Earlier in the day, Abdulrahman al-Saleh, director general of Dubai’s Finance Department, made it clear that Dubai World is not guaranteed by the emirate’s government. Investors also took in a lacklustre start to the holiday shopping season that started on Friday, with sales rising just 0.5 per cent year over year.

And the National Retail Federation estimated that average spending dropped to US$343.31 per person from $372.57 a year ago.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 34.92 points to 10,344.84, the Nasdaq composite index rose 6.16 points to 2,144.6 while the S&P 500 index was ahead 4.14 points to 1,095.63.

In other corporate news, underwriters have agreed to pay $150 million to buy six million preferred shares issued by IGM Financial Inc. (TSX:IGM), part of the Power Corporation group of companies. The series B shares will be priced at $25 each and carry an annual dividend yield of 5.90 per cent. IGM shares were 68 cents lower at $40.68.

Com Dev International Ltd. (TSX:CDV) shares were under pressure after the designer and manufacturer of space hardware subsystems used on satellites and ground stations said results for August-October quarter were disappointing. The company reported a $4.3-million shortfall in both revenue and net income due to two domestic government programs. Its shares were down 31 cents to $3.29.

The bidding for Cossette Inc. (TSX:KOS), one of Canada’s largest advertising and corporate communications firms, intensified. Mill Road Capital LP has increased its all-cash offer for Cossette Inc. (TSX:KOS) to $8.10 per share, which beats a rival offer of $7.87 per share from Cosmos Capital that was announced Friday. Cossette shares were up a penny to $8.02.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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Dow Jones	10,344.84	+34.92 or +0.34%	+17.87%
S&P 500	1,095.63	+4.14 or +0.38%	+21.30%
NASDAQ	2,144.60	+6.16 or +0.29%	+35.99%
TSX Composite	11,447.20	-17.21 or -0.15%	+27.37%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,345.55	+264.03 or +2.91%	+5.49%
Hang Seng	21,821.50	+687.00 or 3.25%	+51.67%
SENSEX	16,926.22	+294.21 or +1.77%	+75.45%
FTSE 100	5,190.68	-55.05 or -1.05%	+17.06%
CAC 40	3,680.15	-41.30 or -1.11%	+14.36%
DAX	5,625.95	-59.66 or -1.05%.	+16.96%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	104.44	104.38	3.20
Cdn. 30-year bond	119.90	119.82	3.82
U.S. 10-year bond	101.50	101.44	3.19
U.S. 30-year bond	103.03	102.97	4.19

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9473	0.9421
US $	1.0556	1.0615

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6309	0.6294
Euro	1.5851	1.5887

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$1,128.75	$1,104.00

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$77.29	+1.63 or +1.24%

(11/30/09)