REMINDER! Merix will be implementing new Government mortgage rules at midnight ET tonight, Monday March 14th, 2011.
February job creation disappoints as unemployment rate stays unchanged at 7.8%..."the Bank of Canada will look on this as a dovish report and will see no urgency to start hiking interest rates soon."
* TSX +35.67 to 13,674.25 closed higher Friday even as oil prices slid on concerns that a massive earthquake and tsunami will slow the Japanese economy and that the Chinese government will take further steps to battle high inflation.
* DOW +59.79 to 12,044.40 New York markets were higher amid a strong retail sales report. The U.S. Commerce Department said retail sales rose by one per cent last month. Part of the gain reflected higher prices for gasoline.
* Dollar +.48c to 102.98c USD
* Oil -$1.54 to $101.16USD per barrel Even with Friday's decline, crude oil is still up more than 10 per cent from the middle of last month on worries that fighting in Libya could spread to big oil producers in the Persian Gulf, such as Saudi Arabia.
* Gold +$9.30 to $1421.80 per ounce
* Canadian 5 yr bond yields markets -.01bps to 2.66. The spread (based on the MERIX 5 yr rate published rate of 4.14%) has now settled into the middle of the comfort zone at 1.48.
(courtesy of Barb Morgan, DBD Ontario Southwest)
