Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market appeared on its way to a higher open in the first trading day of the new year Tuesday on the back of higher oil prices and a strong performance Monday in the U.S.

The TSX was closed Monday, but global stock markets have started 2011 buoyantly in the wake of a run of upbeat economic data from around the globe.

The TSX starts a new year of trading on Tuesday with a gain of just over 14% for 2010 amid high hopes for continued recovery of the U.S. economy.

Stocks in New York got a boost Monday after a survey from the Institute for Supply Management showed manufacturing activity in the U.S. spiked to a six-month high in December.

The Canadian dollar opened the year at parity with the U.S. dollar, up 0.13 cents to 100.67 cents US.

The January crude contract gained 32 cents at US$91.87 a barrel — a two year high.

The new February gold contract lost 14.80 to US$1,408.610 while the March copper contract on the Nymex was unchanged at US$4.46.

The upbeat mood in stock markets is set to continue when Wall Street opens later — Dow futures were up 39 points at 11,624 and Nasdaq futures gained 7.5 points to 2,258, while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500 futures rose 3.3 points to 1,268.60.

Optimism over the pace of the U.S. recovery has increased over the past few weeks following an agreement between the White House and Congress to extend tax cuts for all Americans and amid growing signs that the labour market is on the turn.

The hope is that Friday’s nonfarm payrolls data will show that unemployment is on the way down.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index was up 2.29%, while Germany’s DAX gained 0.2%, and France’s CAC-40 moved 0.95% higher.