AM market numbers: December 10, 2009

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

The Toronto stock market headed for a positive open Thursday morning as the U.S. dollar weakened against other currencies and sent commodity prices higher following a series of declines.

The Canadian dollar was ahead 0.38 of a cent to 95.21 cents US.

New York futures pointed to a higher start to the session with the Dow Jones industrial futures ahead 38 points to 10,368, the Nasdaq futures up 8.8 points to 1,801.2 and the S&P 500 futures up 5.1 points to 1,100.7.

The TSX finished slightly higher on Wednesday with investors unsettled after a top ratings agency lowered its credit rating outlook on Spain to negative.

Wednesday’s move by Standard & Poor’s raised more fears about the consequences of governments piling up massive debts in order to spark economic recoveries with unprecedented stimulus spending.

It also added to warnings from other ratings agencies about government finances in Britain and the U.S., as well as downgrades of Greece and state-linked companies in debt-laden Dubai.

Oil prices rose after losing ground for the past week on a strengthening U.S. dollar and demand concerns. On Thursday, the January crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 30 cents to US$70.97.

Gold prices also headed higher with the February bullion contract on the Nymex up $3.50 to US$1,124.40 an ounce while March copper was unchanged at $3.12.

Canadian investors also took in a series of earnings reports.

Sports clothing maker Gildan Activewear Inc. posted a profit of $42.4 million or 35 cents a share in the fourth-quarter, up from $21.8 million or 18 cents a share a year ago. But revenue declined from a year ago, down to $301.7 million from $324.7 million, which missed analyst expectations.

Action sport retailer West 49 Inc. reported net income of $2.9 million or five cents per share for the third quarter, up from year-ago profit of $2.1 million or three cents per share. Revenues totalled $59.4 million, down from $61.7 million last year.

Dollarama Inc. posted net income of $1.1 million or two cents per share for the third quarter, compared to a year-ago net loss of $22.2 million or 52 cents per share. Revenue came in at $312.8 million, up from $272.4 million last year.

In Asia, Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average fell 1.4% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 0.2%.

London’s FTSE 100 index rose 0.59% as The Bank of England announced it is holding interest rates steady at 0.5% and leaving its 200 billion pound ($325 billion) program to expand the money supply unchanged. Frankfurt’s DAX climbed 1% while the Paris CAC 40 was off 0.74%.

(The Canadian Press)

North American markets (previous close)

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	Open	Change	YTD
Dow Jones	10,337.05	+51.08 or +0.50%	+17.78%
S&P 500	1,095.95	+4.01 or +0.37%	+21.33%
NASDAQ	2,183.73	+10.74 or +0.49%	+38.47%
TSX Composite	11,379.22	+10.29 or +0.09%	+26.61%

International markets

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	Open	Change	YTD
Nikkei	9,862.82	-141.90 or -1.42%	+11.32%
Hang Seng	21,700.04	-41.72 or -0.19%	+50.83%
SENSEX	17,189.31	+64.09 or +0.37%	+78.18%
FTSE 100	5,238.43	+34.54 or +0.66%	+18.14%
CAC 40	3,792.84	+35.45 or +0.94%	+17.86%
DAX	5,704.94	+57.10 or +1.01%	+18.60%

Bonds

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Bonds	$Current	$Previous	%Yield
Cdn. 10-year bond	103.63	103.80	3.30
Cdn. 30-year bond	117.60	118.20	3.94
U.S. 10-year bond	99.28	99.72	3.46
U.S. 30-year bond	98.88	99.67	4.44

Currency

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BoC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.9520	0.9437
US $	1.0504	1.0597

Euro Spot Rate	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.6464	0.6395
Euro	1.5471	1.5636

Commodities

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Gold	AM	PM
London Gold Fix ($US)	$1,125.75	$1,142.25

Oil	Open	Change
WTI Crude Future (US)	$70.93	+$0.26 or +0.37%

(12/10/09)