Source: The Canadian Press

The resource sector was set to push the Toronto stock market to a positive open Wednesday as strong manufacturing figures from China encouraged demand prospects and sent commodity prices higher.

The Canadian dollar moved down 0.62 of a cent to 94.38 cents US.

U.S. futures also pointed to a higher open with the Dow Jones industrial futures up 101 points to 10,107, the Nasdaq futures rose 22.75 points to 1,789.25 and the S&P 500 futures jumped 12.2 points to 1,060.5.

Investor sentiment picked up after figures from the state-affiliated China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing showed manufacturing growth up for the first time in four months in August. It said its purchasing managers index — a gauge of business activity — rose to 51.7 in August from 51.2 in July. Numbers above 50 show manufacturing activity expanding.

Meanwhile, investors also took in some soft employment data two days before the U.S. government releases its August non-farm payrolls report. The monthly jobs survey from the ADP payrolls firm shows that the private sector actually ditched 10,000 jobs during August. The markets had expected the ADP report to show that around 20,000 private payroll jobs were added.

Another eagerly anticipated report coming out during morning is the monthly purchasing managers’ index from the Institute for Supply Management. Economists expect that it dropped to 53.0 in August from July’s 55.5, in line with the slowdown in economic growth witnessed in other figures.

Oil prices advanced after two days of sharp declines following the release of the Chinese data. Hopes for higher demand pushed the October crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange up 56 cents to US$72.48 a barrel.

Metal prices also advanced with the December copper contract on the Nymex up by seven cents to US$3.44 a pound.

The December gold contract in New York was up $5.40 to US$1,255.70 an ounce.

On the earnings front, transportation giant Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) reported that its second-quarter profits dropped to US$148 million from $202 million a year earlier on lower sales, with the aerospace division dragged down by a sluggish global economy. The Montreal-based company, which reports in U.S. dollars, said Wednesday that earnings amounted to eight cents per share.

Earlier in Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index jumped 2.1% as other data showed that the country’s economy grew a seasonally adjusted 1.2% in the April-June quarter as demand from China and elsewhere in Asia boosted exports of iron ore and other commodities. The rise, the highest for three years, was more than the 0.9% anticipated in the markets.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 1.2%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.4%.

London’s FTSE 100 index gained 1.51%, the Frankfurt DAX climbed 1.28% while the Paris CAC 40 rose 1.96%.

In other corporate news, Uranium One Inc. (TSX:UUU) says its shareholders have approved the sale of a controlling interest in the company to Russia’s state-owned ARMZ. The deal will see Uranium One issue 356 million common shares, worth about $1.3 billion at their most recent market price, to JSC Atomredmetzoloto, also known as ARMZ. In exchange, Uranium One will acquire interests in two Kazakhstan uranium mines plus US$610 million in cash.

Convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX:ATD.B) has again increased its bid for Casey’s General Stores in the U.S., by 50 cents a share to $38.50 per share in cash. The Montreal-area company also said it has secured financing of up to $1.5 billion.