Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market appeared headed for a higher open Friday with lift coming from commodities as oil prices rose in the wake of a better than expected reading on U.S. orders for big ticket manufactured goods.

Also, gold prices moved further into record territory, passing the US$1,300 an ounce level as investors look for a safe haven.

The Canadian dollar moved up 0.35 of a cent to 97.06 cents US.

U.S. futures pointed to a higher open after the U.S. Commerce Department said that orders for durable goods dropped 1.3% last month, reflecting a huge drop in aircraft demand. But when looking at orders without aircraft and autos, orders actually rose 2%, better than the 1% rise that was expected. It reflected strong gains in demand for primary metals such as steel, heavy machinery and computers.

The Dow Jones industrial futures advanced 94 points to 10,700, the Nasdaq futures were ahead 18.5 points to 2,000 while the S&P 500 futures gained 9.9 points to 1,130.3.

Oil prices moved above US$75 a barrel in the wake of the U.S. data.

Prices also got a lift from an unexpected rise in German business confidence which also helped to shore up sentiment amid ongoing concerns about the pace of the U.S. economic recovery.

The benchmark crude for November delivery was up 69 cents to $75.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

German business confidence in September rose to its highest level since June 2007, according to the Ifo Institute. The reading came on the back of the country’s impressive economic performance in the April-June quarter when Europe’s biggest economy grew by a solid rate of 2.2%.

The survey though suggested that growth will likely falter, partly because of a slowdown in the U.S. economic recovery.

Meanwhile, the December bullion contact on the Nymex gained US$3.20 to US$1,299.50 an ounce after earlier hitting a record intra-day high of US$1,301.30.

December copper in New York was ahead three cents to US$3.62 a pound.

Stock markets faltered on Thursday after data showed a jump in U.S. unemployment insurance claims.

Later Friday, another report from the Commerce Department is expected to show sales of new homes rose last month after touching the lowest level on records dating back to 1963 in July. Economists forecast sales rose 5.1% to an annual rate of 290,000.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.3% while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.7%.

London’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.11%, Frankfurt’s DAX added 0.33% while the Paris CAC 40 was up 0.39%.

In corporate news, Nike Inc. said its fiscal first-quarter revenue and profit jumped. Just as importantly, the athletic shoe and apparel maker said upcoming orders jumped by their largest level in a decade.

Pure Energy Services Ltd. (TSX:PSV) has agreed to sell its drilling rig assets and operations to an unnamed private investment group for $34 million in the latest move by the company to focus on its core business.