P.M. market numbers: September 30, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market appeared headed for a weak open Thursday as oil prices declined and investors looked to some important economic data from the United States during the morning.

New York pre-market trading also pointed towards a lower open with the Dow industrial futures down 33 points to 9,620, the Nasdaq futures declined 9.25 points to 1,708.25 and the S&P 500 futures slid 4.5 points to 1,048.4.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.02 of a cent to 93.38 cents US after surging commodity prices helped push the loonie up 1.28 cents Wednesday.

North American stock markets drifted to a lower close Wednesday after investors were surprised by a much weaker showing from the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index. The snapshot of manufacturing activity in the American Midwest showed the sector moving back into contraction during September.

Investors were also taken aback by data showing flat Canadian economic growth during July.

Both reports raised investors’ doubts about the economic recovery and whether they should be continuing this year’s rally, which has sent key indexes up more than 50% since the lows of early March.

Despite Wednesday’s weak showing, the TSX gained almost 5% during September, historically a volatile month on stock markets.

On Thursday, investors will get a better idea of the U.S. manufacturing sector’s health when the Institute for Supply Management issues its report for September later in the morning.

The index is forecast to come in at 54, up from 52.9 in August. Readings above 50 mean the sector is expanding.

Also, a day before the U.S. government releases its non-farms payroll report for September, first-time claims for jobless benefits rose more than expected last week.

The U.S. Labour Department said initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to a seasonally adjusted 551,000 from 534,000 in the previous week. Wall Street economists expected an increase of 5,000, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

The increase comes after three weeks of declines.

Consumer spending, propelled by the wildly popular Cash for Clunkers auto sales program, shot up 1.3% in August, the largest amount in nearly eight years.

That was better than the 1.1% gain that had been expected.

However, incomes continued to lag, edging up 0.2% in August, the same as the July increase.

Toronto energy stocks could be lower as oil prices backed off after staging a huge rebound Wednesday, rising almost $4 a barrel after a report showed rising crude oil stocks along with increasing gasoline demand. On Thursday, the November crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange lost 51 cents to US$70.10.

Metal prices were also soft as the December gold contract in New York lost $3.10 to US$1,006.20 an ounce while December copper declined three cents at US$2.79 a pound.

In corporate news, a new investment fund managed by Onex Corp. will offer trust units in a public offering. The new OCP Credit Strategy Fund will invest in debt obligations with credit ratings that are considered to be below investment grade.

Overseas, London’s FTSE 100 index slipped 0.47%, Frankfurt’s DAX lost 0.24% and the Paris CAC 40 was down 0.46%.

In Asia, economic readings were mixed. Surveys showed Chinese manufacturing was expanding and big manufacturers in Japan were less pessimistic. Yet after making drastic cuts to workers, Japanese companies still say they have too many employees and too much production capacity.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average dropped 1.5%. Hong Kong and mainland China markets were closed for the 60th anniversary of Communist rule. Hong Kong reopens Friday but mainland markets are closed until Oct. 9.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets

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Dow Jones	9,712.28	-29.92 or -0.31%	+10.66%
S&P 500	1,057.08	-3.53 or -0.33%	+17.03%
NASDAQ	2,122.42	-1.62 or -0.08%	+34.58%
TSX Composite	11,394.96	-0.03 or -0.00%	+26.78%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,978.64	-154.59 or -1.53%	+12.63%
Hang Seng	20,955.25	Closed	+45.65%
SENSEX	17,134.55	+7.71 or +0.05%	+77.61%
FTSE 100	5,101.33	-32.57 or -0.63%	+15.05%
CAC 40	3,769.73	-25.68 or -0.68%	+17.15%
DAX	5,640.96	-34.20 or -0.60%	+17.27%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	103.68	103.48	3.30
Cdn. 30-year bond	119.84	119.29	3.83
U.S. 10-year bond	102.84	102.75	3.28
U.S. 30-year bond	108.09	108.22	4.03

Currency

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BoC Open	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9304	0.9318
US $	1.0748	1.0731

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6419	0.6363
Euro	1.5579	1.5716

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$1,005.75	$995.75

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$68.19	-$0.88 or -1.27%

(10/01/09)