Toronto's main stock index looked set to open higher on Tuesday, taking cues from its U.S. and European counterparts and helped by firmer commodity prices.
The S&P/TSX composite index was ahead 70.73 points to close Wednesday at 12,353.09
The Canadian dollar jumped 0.17 cents to 101.74 cents U.S. Thursday morning.
Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto confirmed that an independent arbitrator had cleared the way for it to bid for Ivanhoe Mines but said it had no current intention of making an offer.
Investors in the oil sands producer are turning up the pressure on Connacher Oil & Gas Ltd. to begin a formal sales process, saying plans to find a partner to keep operating as a stand-alone enterprise won't add enough value.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada’s new housing price index rose 0.2% in October, fairly consistent with similar increases throughout the year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 1.01 points to end Wednesday at 1,184.94
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were poised for a flat open, as investors returned their attention to fiscal cliff negotiations and shrugged off the latest efforts by the Federal Reserve' to keep the economy and financial markets on track.
The Dow Jones Industrials futures gained 28 points, or 0.2%, to 13,258, while S&P 500 futures ducked back 0.2 points to 1,427, and futures for the tech-rich Nasdaq picked up 1.25 points to 2,671.50
On the corporate front, shares of Best Buy surged in premarket trade following a report that said the company's founder Richard Schulze will make an offer to purchase the electronics company by the end of the week.
CVS Caremark shares were higher after the company boosted its quarterly dividend, announced a $4-billion U.S. share buyback and raised its 2013 outlook.
Pier 1 Imports also upped its dividend and announced a share repurchase program of $100 million U.S. The home furnishings retailer also reported better-than-expected third quarter earnings and sales, and lifted its forecast for the year.
Corporate results are due from homebuilder Hovnanian and Pier 1.
Investors were also on hold ahead of a handful of economic reports, including weekly initial claims data, November retail sales and producer prices.
Fiscal cliff negotiations reclaimed the spotlight, as House Speaker John Boehner and Republican members of Congress gave investors few reasons to be optimistic that lawmakers are close to a deal.
In Europe, finance ministers said Thursday they had reached a deal that will bring the continent's banks under a single supervisor. The measure is the latest attempt to alleviate pain caused by the region's debt crisis, and could help standardize the oversight of banking operations.
Meanwhile, euro-zone finance ministers agreed to release the next installment of Greece's bailout. The cash-strapped country is slated to receive €49.1 billion through the first quarter of 2013, with €34.3 billion of that being paid out in the coming days.
European markets were lower in afternoon trading.
Meanwhile, Asian markets ended mixed. Japan's Nikkei closed up 1.7% as the nation’s elections approach
Oil prices fell back 39 cents to $86.38 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dropped $24.10 an ounce to $1,693.80 U.S.
