Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed for a slightly higher open Wednesday as oil prices advanced amid data showing U.S. crude supplies dropped more than expected for a second week and investors look to the latest reading on U.S. economic strength.

The Canadian dollar headed higher against the greenback, up 0.26 of a cent to 98.54 cents US.

U.S. futures were little changed with the Dow Jones industrials up four points to 11,475, the Nasdaq futures dipped 1.5 points to 2,234 and the S&P 500 futures added 0.1 of a point to 1,251 ahead of the release of the final revision of growth figures for the July-September quarter.

There are hopes that the previous estimate of 2.5% annualized growth could be revised up to 2.8% following a run of stronger-than-anticipated data. There will also be interest in existing home sales figures for November, which will be released after the bell.

Optimism about the pace of the U.S. economic recovery has increased over the past few weeks, partly because of the stronger data but also in the wake of a deal to extend tax cuts.

Meanwhile, the February crude oil contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was ahead 38 cents to US$90.20 a barrel after the American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories fell 5.8 million barrels last week. Analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had forecast a drop of 2.4 million barrels.

The Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration reports its weekly supply data later Wednesday.

Metal prices softened with the March copper contract on the Nymex off a penny to US$4.26 a pound while the February bullion contract in New York lost 80 cents to US$1,388.

Earlier in Asia, Chinese shares fell on profit-taking, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index losing 0.9% while the Shenzhen Composite Index for China’s smaller, second market slipped 0.8%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average closed down 0.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.2%.

Elsewhere, news that the British economy grew by a slightly less than anticipated quarterly rate of 0.7% during the third quarter had little market impact. That was partly because the minutes to the last policy meeting at the Bank of England came across as modestly more hawkish than expected as rate-setters voiced worries over above-target inflation.

London’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.35%, Frankfurt’s DAX was off 0.05% while the Paris CAC 40 declined 0.09%.

In corporate news, Centric Health Corp. (TSX:CHH) is buying certain assets of Dedicated National Pharmacies Inc., Methadrug Clinic Limited and Union Medical Pharmacy Inc. from a court-appointed receiver for an undisclosed amount.