Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed for a weak open Wednesday as commodity prices continued to soften on worries about slower Chinese economic growth.

The Canadian dollar made slight gains against the American currency, up 0.06 of a cent to 97.89 cents US.

U.S. futures were higher as investors continued to watch developments in Europe’s government debt crisis. The Dow Jones industrial futures gained 34 points to 11,018, the Nasdaq futures were ahead 10.25 points to 2,101 while the S&P 500 futures were ahead 5.4 points to 1,180.

Oil prices hovered around US$82 a barrel amid a report showing U.S. crude supplies unexpectedly plunged last week.

Benchmark oil for December delivery was down 11 cents to $82.23 as the American Petroleum Institute said crude inventories fell 7.7 million barrels last week, suggesting that demand for fuel is rising. Analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos, had expected an increase of 1.2 million barrels. The API also said gasoline stocks dropped while distillates rose.

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

Copper prices continued to weaken, down another two cents to US$3.70 a pound. The metal’s price has plunged about 9% in the past week amid a stronger American dollar and concerns about what steps China could take to slow its economy after inflation hit a 25-month high in October.

A state media report of a days-old speech by Premier Wen Jiabao, the country’s top economic official, saying the cabinet is “drafting measures to suppress sharp rises of commodity prices” added to those expectations.

Gold prices rose slightly with the December contract on the Nymex up $2.60 to US$1,341 an ounce.

Meanwhile, investors had been hoping that a meeting of finance ministers from the 16-country eurozone on Tuesday would end with an agreement on a bailout package for Ireland’s troubled banks.

But the meeting ended late Tuesday without any deal, although European Union officials said they have “intensified” preparations for potential support for the country’s troubled banking sector.

That gave the euro a modest boost against the dollar after it tumbled the day before to a six-week low.

Concerns that Ireland will be unable to pay the cost of rescuing its banks, which ran into trouble when the country’s real-estate boom collapsed, has worsened Europe’s government debt crisis.

Overseas, China’s Shanghai Composite Index slid 1.9% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average gained 0.2%, Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 dropped 1.6% and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.1% to 1,897.11.

Elsewhere, markets in Taiwan, Thailand and New Zealand fell. Singapore, India, Indonesia and Malaysia were closed for holidays.

London’s FTSE 100 index dipped 0.09%, Frankfurt’s DAX was up 0.41% while the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.33%.

In earnings news, grocery retailer Metro Inc. (TSX:MRU.A) says both its profits and sales were stronger in its fiscal fourth quarter, but missed analyst expectations as price deflation cut into results. Earnings increased 10.7% to $93.4 million while sales rose 1.1% to $2.56 billion.

Elsewhere, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. plans a US$2-billion share buy-back.

PotashCorp. (TSX:POT) did not state a reason for the share repurchase program in its announcement after markets closed Tuesday. The announcement came after BHP Billiton walked away from its takeover attempt of the fertilizer giant on the weekend, after Ottawa rejected its nearly US$40-billion bid as not having a net benefit for Canada.