P.M. market numbers: October 14, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market cruised to a solid gain Wednesday and Dow Jones industrial average broke through the psychologically important 10,000 mark amid key earnings reports and a better than expected reading on retail sales in the United States.

Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index closed up 119.24 points to 11,532.78, while the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 10,000 for the first time in just over a year, surging 144.8 points to 10,015.86.

The Dow is now up 53% from its March low, but remains 29% below its peak of 14,164.53 hit in October 2007.

The TSX is up 52% since the lows of March 9.

The TSX found strong support from the energy sector as the bullish reports from the U.S. raised hopes for higher crude demand.

The sector gained 2.14% as the November crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange moved up $1.03 to US$75.18 a barrel a day before U.S. crude inventory figures are released.

The financial sector was up 1.46% after JPMorgan Chase, the first of the big U.S. banks to report third-quarter earnings, reported a US$3.59-billion profit as it roughly doubled the amount of money set aside for failed home and credit card loans in the quarter.

The Canadian dollar continued to edge towards parity with the U.S. currency, up another cent to 97.48 cents U.S.

A weakening U.S. dollar, higher commodity prices and positive Canadian economic data have pushed the loonie substantially higher of late. The loonie, which hasn’t matched the U.S. dollar since May 2008, gained more than three cents last week alone.

New York markets also racked up solid gains after the U.S. Commerce Department reported that retail sales dropped 1.5% last month as car sales plummeted following the end of the government’s popular Cash for Clunkers program.

The Nasdaq composite index gained 32.34 points to 2,172.23 while the S&P 500 index was ahead 18.83 points to 1,092.02.

The gold sector was down 1.22% as the price of bullion eased from Tuesday’s latest record close, with the December bullion contract on the Nymex down 30 cents to US$1,064.70 an ounce.

(THE CANADIAN PRESS)

North American markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	10,015.86	+144.80 or +1.47%	+14.12%
S&P 500	1,092.02	+18.83 or +1.75%	+20.90%
NASDAQ	2,172.23	+32.34 or +1.51%	+37.74%
TSX Composite	11,532.78	+119.24 or +1.04%	+28.32%

International markets

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	Close	Change	YTD
Nikkei	10,060.21	-16.35 or -0.16%	+13.55%
Hang Seng	21,886.48	+419.12 or +1.95%	+52.12%
SENSEX	17,231.11	+204.44 or +1.20%	+78.61%
FTSE 100	5,256.10	+101.95 or +1.98%	+18.54%
CAC 40	3,882.67	+81.28 or +2.14%	+20.66%
DAX	5,854.14	+139.83 or +2.45%	+21.70%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	101.83	102.33	3.52
Cdn. 30-year bond	117.00	118.00	3.98
U.S. 10-year bond	101.72	102.53	3.42
U.S. 30-year bond	103.87	105.72	4.27

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9747	0.9647
US $	1.0259	1.0365

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6534	0.6506
Euro	1.5305	1.5370

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$1066.00	$1059.50

Oil	Close	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$75.15	+$1.00 or +1.35%

(10/14/09)