Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed for a lower open Thursday even as oil prices continued to rise amid violent anti-government protests in Egypt.

The Canadian dollar was little changed against the American currency, down 0.01 of a cent to 101.18 cents US.

U.S. futures indicated a flat open as investors weighed earnings from Dow Chemical and Merck & Co. and awaited data on jobless insurance claims.

The Dow futures gained seven points to 11,992, the Nasdaq futures declined 1.75 points to 2,318 while the S&P 500 futures dipped 1.9 points to 1,298.

Oil prices were back above US$91 a barrel with the March contract up 76 cents to US$91.62 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The rise reflected running battles in Cairo involving supporters and opponents of President Hosni Mubarak which left three people dead and 600 injured, after the 82-year-old leader resisted protesters’ calls for his immediate resignation. Shipping through Egypt’s Suez Canal has not been disrupted, but investors are also concerned political instability could spread to oil rich countries in the Middle East.

Also, U.S. energy supply data gave mixed signals about the strength of consumer demand. The Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that crude supplies rose less than expected last week but that gasoline inventories jumped more than analyst forecasts to the highest level since March 1993.

The uncertainty in the Mideast has helped drive crude prices up about seven per cent over the last week.

The TSX could be pressured by mining stocks as metal prices headed lower.

The April bullion contract on the Nymex was down $3.40 to US$1,328.70 an ounce while March copper dipped a cent from Tuesday’s record high close to US$4.53 a pound.

The U.S. Labour Department is expected to report that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell last week after rising for three of the past four weeks. The U.S. non-farm payrolls report for January will be released on Friday.

Drugmaker Merck & Co. lost US$531 million in the fourth quarter due to a huge restructuring charge from its acquisition of Schering-Plough Corp. in 2009. But Schering’s products helped boost sales 20%, and the results beat muted Wall Street forecasts.

Dow Chemical reported net income of US$426 million, or 37 cents per share, compared with net income of US$87 million, or eight cents per share, a year ago. Revenue rose 10% to US$13.8 billion, topping analyst expectations for US$12.5 billion.

In Canada, First Uranium Corp. (TSX:FIU) said Wednesday its third-quarter loss increased 26% to $18.1 million. Revenue increased to $51.3 million from just under $32 million.

Software company Open Text Corp. (TSX:OTC) nearly doubled its second-quarter profit to US$37.1 million. On an adjusted basis, income was $70.5 million or $1.21 per share, up 41% from $50.1 million or 87 cents per share.

That easily beat analysts expectations of US$1.07 per share, according to estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters.

The company also announced that it plans to expand its software business by paying $182 million cash to buy Metastorm Inc. of Baltimore, Md.

And pipeline operator Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB) said net income for the three month period was $326 million or 64 cents per common share, below expectations of 69 cents per share from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Enbridge also said it will boost its dividend by 15% to 49 cents per common share on March 1.

Trading in Asia was muted due to the Lunar New Year holidays with markets closed in South Korea, Hong Kong, mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Nikkei 225 stock average closed 0.3% lower while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.5% .

London’s FTSE 100 index lost 0.44%, Frankfurt’s DAX slipped 0.13% while the Paris CAC 40 lost 1.29%.

The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low of one per cent on Thursday despite rising inflation levels.

Eurozone consumer prices were up 2.4% in year-on-year terms in January, up from December’s 2.2% gain and a 27-month high. The ECB’s mandate is to keep inflation close to, but below two per cent.

IE