MONEY IN BRIEF

Currencies

These are indicative wholesale rates for foreign currency provided by the Bank of Canada on Monday. Quotations in Canadian funds. Australia dollar Brazil real China renminbi Euro Hong Kong dollar India rupee Indonesia rupiah Japan yen Malaysia ringgit Mexico peso N.Z. dollar Norway krone Peruvian new sol Russia rouble Saudi riyal Singapore dollar South Africa rand South Korean won Sweden krona Switzerland franc Taiwanese dollar Thailand baht Turkey lira U.K. pound U.S. dollar

Vietnam dong 0.9890 0.3849 0.1985 1.5500 0.1596 0.01948 0.000092 0.01136

0.3201 0.06703 0.9101 0.1605 0.3871 0.02194 0.3329 0.9464 0.10370 0.001147 0.1574 1.3341 0.04255 0.03958 0.3313 1.7495 1.2483 0.000055

Financial highlights

Highlights at the close Monday at world financial market trading. Stocks:

S&P/TSX Composite Index - 15,334.81, down 271.22 points Dow - 24,345.75, down 1,175.21 points (record one-day points loss)

S&P 500 - 2,648.94, down 113.19 points

Nasdaq - 6,967.53, down 273.42 points

Currencies:

Cdn - 80.11 cents US, down 0.67 of a cent

Pound - C$1.7495, down 0.16 of a cent

Euro - C$1.5500, up 0.80 of a cent Euro - US$1.2417, down 0.39 of a cent

Oil futures:

US$64.15, down $1.30 (March contract)

Gold futures:

US$1,336.50 per oz., down 80 cents

Canadian Fine Silver Handy and Harman:

$21.774 oz., up 19 cents $700.03 kg., up $6.10

The markets today

TORONTO (CP) — North American stock indexes extended last week’s slump, as the Dow Jones industrial average plunged nearly 1,600 points during Monday’s trading session – bringing an end to a period of record-setting calm in the market.

In New York, the Dow finished the day down 1,175.21 points to 24,345.75, or 4.6 per cent, erasing its gains for the year. The S&P 500 index fell 113.19 points to 2,648.94 and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 273.42 points to 6,967.53.

The Dow’s point loss would be its biggest of all time, though in percentage terms, its 5.6 per cent decline wasn’t as big as its worst drop during the financial crisis. The market’s sharp drop began on Friday as investors worried that creeping signs of higher inflation might push the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more quickly, which could slow down economic growth by making it more expensive for people and businesses to borrow money. “I look at the broader factors that are driving this sell-off, and it’s really the pick-up in interest rates that seems to be at the heart of the anxiety in the marketplace,” said Craig Fehr, a Canadian markets strategist at Edward Jones. “And I look at a driver like that – and to the extent that interest rates are rising because economic optimism is picking up and that’s stoking some concerns about rising inflation – that for me is a healthy backbone for the fundamentals.”

“That means, in my opinion, this sell-off while certainly aggressive is probably likely to prove more temporary then to be a harbinger of an imminent bear market.”