Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed for a slightly higher open Tuesday as commodity prices advanced in the wake of a move by Japan’s central bank to effectively cut its main interest rate to 0% in an effort to weaken the yen.

The bank also said it may set up a five trillion yen (US$60 billion) fund to buy government bonds and other assets and hopes that its moves will help prop up the faltering Japanese economy. Economic performance has been particularly weighed down by the recent appreciation of the yen, which has in turn hurt the export trade.

The Canadian dollar edged up 0.03 of a cent to 97.88 cents US.

U.S. futures signalled a positive open as the Dow Jones industrial futures gained 17 points to 10,724, the Nasdaq futures moved 6.5 points higher to 1,983.5 and the S&P 500 futures were up 2.5 points to 1,137.3.

Oil and metals prices headed higher. The November crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 41 cents to US$81.88 a barrel.

The December bullion contract on the Nymex gained $11.40 to US$1,328.20 an ounce while the December copper contract in New York was up four cents to US$3.71 a pound.

The main piece of economic data Tuesday will be the September U.S. non-manufacturing survey from the Institute for Supply Management.

Investors expect the survey to echo last Friday’s broadly positive manufacturing report, with the headline index improving to 52 from August’s 51.5. Anything below 50 would indicate a contraction and stoke fears that the U.S. economy is heading for a double-dip recession.

“Today’s reading is likely to remind us that the U.S. economy has lost growth momentum through recent months but, significantly, it argues against the downside risks highlighted in some quarters being realized,” said Adrian Foster, an economist at Rabobank.

But the main focus of the week will be Friday’s monthly U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for September. Expectations are modest in the extreme with economists expecting the economy created only about 5,000 jobs last month.

The data could have a bearing on whether the Fed takes further action to stimulate the U.S. economy.

Canadian employment data for September will also be released on Friday.

Stocks pulled back on Monday following some disappointing news on the economy. Factory orders fell slightly more than expected in August and contracts for new homes remained far below last year’s pace.

There was also nervousness heading into third quarter earnings reports. Aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. kicks off the quarterly earnings season in the U.S. on Thursday.

In Asia, the biggest gainer was Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average, which reversed early losses to close 1.5% higher after the Bank of Japan cut its key interest rate to a range of zero to 0.1%.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.1%, South Korea’s Kospi was fractionally lower and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4%.

London’s FTSE 100 index added 0.15%, Frankfurt’s DAX rose 0.1% while the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.78%.

Jean Coutu Group (TSX:PJC.A) nearly tripled its profits in the second quarter as the Quebec-based pharmacy chain continued to recover from the effects of its investment in Rite-Aid. The Montreal-area company, which is Quebec’s largest pharmacy operator and one of the largest in Canada, reported profits of $42.6 million, or 18 cents per share, for the three-month period, which met expectations. Revenue increased 2.2% to $622 million.

Breakwater Resources Ltd. (TSX:BWR) says employees at its Toqui mine site in southern Chile have gone on strike after negotiations with the company broke down. The Toronto-based base metals producer said there is no estimate on how the strike will affect production.

Workers at Cameco’s (TSX:CCO) Key Lake and McArthur Lake operations have voted 97% in favour of a strike if needed to support contract demands, the United Steelworkers said Monday. Cameco is one of the world’s largest uranium producers with uranium mines, mills, conversion plants and exploration projects in Saskatchewan, Ontario, the United States and Australia.