Toronto's main stock index looked set to open higher on Monday as unrest in North Africa and the Middle East drove up oil and precious metal prices, which is likely to boost shares of energy companies and gold miners.
The Canadian dollar inched up five cents to 99.89 cents U.S.
Among Canadian stocks to watch is TransAlta Corp. A bill to close two coal boilers at a TransAlta power plant in Centralia, Washington, and phase out coal-fired power in the state will go to lawmakers under a deal on Saturday between the company and the state's governor.
Air Canada said on Friday passenger levels for February dipped, adding last year its planes were fuller due to the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
U.S. index futures were higher with less than 20 minutes before markets open, suggesting that stocks will rise at the start of trading. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average were up 57 points or 0.5% to 12,801, clawing back just some of the 200 points lost on Tuesday. Futures for the broader S&P 500 were up 6.4 points or 0.5% to 1,348.30, while futures for the Nasdaq picked up 13.75 points, or 0.5%, to 2,603.25.
European stocks were also pointing upward: The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.4% and Germany's DAX index was up 0.3% in afternoon trading. In Asia, however, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% in overnight trading.
There was no big mystery as to why stocks have been weak this week: China lowered its economic growth target for 2012 to 7.5%, Europe is showing increasing signs of sliding into recession, there are concerns that an unsuccessful Greek debt swap will lead to a disorderly default, and major U.S. indexes have recently been touching multi-year highs.
As for Wednesday's rebound, there is little good news driving stocks higher -- other than a vague thought that maybe concerns about a Greek default have been overblown, given that a number of high-profile private-sector bondholders have signalled their willingness to swap old debt for new at a haircut of more than 50 per cent.
Commodity prices rebounded with stocks. Crude oil rose to $105.22 U.S. a barrel, up 0.5%. Gold rose to $1,681 U.S. an ounce, up 0.5%.
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