Household debt continues to rise...but don't sound the alarm bells just yet..."Overall household liabilities grew by 6.5 per cent from the same period a year ago levels. That was its slowest annual growth rate since the fourth quarter of 2002."
* TSX -55.06 to 13,619.19 No surprise that TSX backed off Monday as commodity prices continued to decline while investors tried to assess the economic impact of Friday's catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The Japanese stock market plunged over 6% but so far has caused only minor ripples on the global economy.
* DOW -51.24 to 11,993.16 taking the DOW below the 12,000 level.
* Dollar -.16c to 102.82c USD as falling oil prices helped push the Canadian dollar down.
* Oil +$.03 to $101.19USD per barrel Three of Japan’s five largest refineries have been shut down, which will immediately crimp demand for crude. Japan is the world’s third-largest crude consumer at 4.5 million barrel a day, the second-largest net oil importer and the biggest importer of liquefied natural gas and coal.
* Gold +$3.10 to $1424.90 per ounce
* Canadian 5 yr bond yields markets -.08bps to 2.58. The spread (based on the NEW MERIX 5 yr rate published rate of 4.04%) is now in the middle of the comfort zone at 1.46 due to the rate decrease.
(courtesy of Barb Morgan, DBD Ontario Southwest)
