Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed for a lower open on Tuesday as commodity prices backed off amid data showing a sharp revision downward in growth prospects for China.

The U.S. Conference Board said late Monday that a calculation error led it to incorrectly state its economic leading indicator for China for the month of April. It said the gauge of future economic growth was up only 0.3%, rather than the 1.7% it had initially stated.

Strong growth from China has helped the global economy start to dig itself out of severe recession. Demand for oil and minerals has been particularly beneficial for the resource-stock heavy Toronto stock market.

U.S. futures were down sharply in the wake of the economic data with the Dow Jones industrial futures down 119 points to 9,969, the Nasdaq futures lost 27.75 points to 1,808.25 while the S&P 500 futures dropped 13.9 points to 1,057.

The Canadian dollar was also lower as worries about global growth strengthened the U.S. dollar. The loonie lost 1.14 cents to US$95.4 cents US.

Energy and mining stocks will likely pressure the TSX at the open as the August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $1.80 to US$76.45 a barrel.

Also depressing crude prices were signs Tropical Storm Alex would likely miss most of the rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, leaving supplies uninterrupted.

The July copper contract on the Nymex lost nine cents to US$2.98 a pound while the August bullion contract faded $4.30 to US$1,234.30 an ounce.

Fears that a global rebound is weakening appear to have spread to American consumers as well. A report due out Tuesday on U.S. consumer confidence is expected to show a decline in June after three straight months of gains.

Economists polled by Thomson Reuters forecast the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index fell to 62.8 from 63.3 last month.

On top of fresh worries about China, European investors were cautious ahead of bank repayments of 442 billion euros in credits to the European Central bank later this week as well as debt auctions in France and Spain.

Such factors were making the euro “the currency market’s whipping boy,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

The euro was trading down at US$1.2198 from US$1.2275.

Britain’s FTSE 100 stock index was down 2.28%, while Germany’s DAX was 2.35% lower and France’s CAC-40 was down 2.72%.

The losses came amid a shutdown of Greek public services as workers walked off the job in a new nationwide general strike protesting austerity measures to reduce the country’s yawning debt — a problem afflicting a slew of European nations.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite Index dived 4.3% to a 14-month low while Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index lost 1.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 2.3%.

In corporate news, an explosion in the coal dryer has shut down Teck Resources Ltd.’s (TSX:TCK.B) Greenhills coal mine near Elkford, B.C. The company said damage to the dryer building is extensive and it’s not yet known how long the mine production will be affected.