The Toronto stock market looked set to open higher on Thursday as commodity prices gained, and investors eagerly await results from Research In Motion, the company that makes the BlackBerry.
RIM has already said it would take a big writedown on unsold PlayBook tablet computers, but surprises could still await investors hungry for details about what many see as a new, make-or-break version of the device.
Among other Canadian stocks to watch this morning, Bombardier Inc. said its train unit won orders worth $248 million to provide light rail vehicles and classic trams to the Frankfurt transport authority.
H&R Real Estate Investment Trust said it would buy an office building in downtown Houston for $442.5 million.
The Canadian dollar traded at 96.79 U.S. cents.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a higher opening, with Dow futures up 122 points, or 1%, at 11,884 and S&P 500 futures up 12.9 points, or 1.1% to 1,219.20, while Nasdaq futures hiked 21.25 points, or 1%, to 2,249.75.
European stocks rose as investors spotted bargains after a day of sharp losses and as Asian equities slipped into bear-market territory.
Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.6%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.5% and Germany's DAX gained 0.9%
The Swiss franc gained against the euro, while another haven, gold, steadied amid nervousness over the euro zone debt crisis.
European investors appeared to be reassured by a successful Spanish debt auction. Spain sold more than six billion euros of bonds, well above the top end of the 2.5-3.5-billion-euro range announced before the sale. The 10-year Spanish benchmark yield fell to a session low of 5.59%, down 15 basis points on the day after the sale.
Japan's Nikkei lost 1.7%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.8%. The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index is down 20% for 2011 -- the rule-of-thumb definition of a bear market, while the Nikkei is down 18%. The FTSE Asia-Pacific index has lost 20.8% since hitting its high for the year in May.
Stocks declined after a key Bank of Japan survey for the three months to December showed a sharper-than-forecast deterioration in business sentiment of larger manufacturers and a separate survey showed China’s manufacturing output shrank again in December as new orders fell.
Gold, which fell 3.5% on Wednesday, traded $1.90 higher at $1,588.80 U.S. an ounce.
U.S. crude oil rose 0.3% to $95.27 U.S. a barrel.
Related Stories
