Toronto's resource heavy index looked set to open higher on Wednesday with equities set to bounce back from the Tuesday's pullback as investors bet U.S. housing data will give further evidence of economic recovery.
The Canadian dollar tacked on 0.12 cents to 100.84 cents U.S.
Among stocks to watch soon after the opening bell, Thomson Reuters Corp. has resumed an auction of its health-care unit after shelving the process last year due to tough market conditions, sources familiar with the situation said.
Broadcast technology provicer Miranda Technologies Inc. said it will continue to talk to potential partners, after several expressions of interests failed to lead to a transaction in the last 12 months.
U.S. index futures were higher with less than half an hour before markets open, suggesting that stocks will rise at the start of trading. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average were up 12 points or 0.1%, to 13,120.
Futures for the broader S&P 500 were up 0.5 points or 0.04% to 1,400.50, while futures for the Nasdaq were down 0.75 points, or 0.03%, to 2,734.75
The gains follow a nasty start to trading on Tuesday, when the head of BHP Billiton's iron ore division said China's demand for steel was levelling off, feeding concerns that perhaps the country's appetite for all commodities is waning.
In Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up less than 0.1% and Germany's DAX index was up less than 0.2% in afternoon trading. In Asia, though, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% in overnight trading.
Commodity prices also showed some strength: Crude oil rose to $106.56 U.S. a barrel, up 0.5%. Prices tumbled sharply on Tuesday, not only on concerns about China but also comments from Saudi Arabia that it could export more oil in response to rising prices.
Gold rose to $1,653 U.S. an ounce, up 0.4%.
