Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market appeared set to regain some of the ground it lost in the previous two sessions as the European Union assured investors it would conclude talks on a bailout for Greece by the weekend.

The EU said Thursday it expects to reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund and Greek officials on a deal to lift Greece out of its “debt spiral” in the next few days.

Officials sought to assure the financial markets _ rattled by Greece’s troubles and fears of a disastrous default _ that the rescue bid for Greece was well on track and that there is no talk of a restructuring in which creditors would lose money.

The TSX lost 1.7% of its value in the last two days of trading as credit downgrades of Greece, Portugal and Spain raised investor fears that the Greek debt crisis was beginning to infect other countries.

In response, investors have fled to safe-haven investments, like the U.S. dollar and gold, which in turn boosted the gold sector but sent almost every other sector, as well as the Canadian dollar, tumbling.

This trend seemed to change course Thursday, as the American greenback fell against other currencies. The Canadian dollar added 0.67 cent to 99.80 cents US.

The June crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange jumped $1.03 to US$84.25 a barrel, while the June bullion contract lost $4.30 to US$1,167.50 an ounce.

On Wall Street, stock futures rose as investors redirected their attention to signs of an improving economy, including an acquisition of smart phone maker Palm Inc. by Hewlett-Packard Co. and some more upbeat first-quarter earnings.

This offset higher-than-expected jobless claims for the week ended April 24, which totalled 448,000, slightly above the consensus estimate of 445,000 initial claims. Continuing claims came in at 4.65 million, higher than the 4.62 million that had been widely forecast.

Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 38 points, or 0.3%, to 11,053.

Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 6.30 points, or 0.5%, to 1,196.40, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 9.50 points, or 0.5%, to 2,016.25.

Meanwhile, Canadian non-farm payroll employment increased nationally by 0.1%, or 8,300 jobs, in February. British Columbia saw the biggest gain, boosted by the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Canadian companies to keep an eye on include Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. (TSX:POT), which well exceeded expectations with first-quarter earnings of $449.2 million. The company said increased demand for its products in the first quarter signals a longer-term rebound for the company, as farmers catch up on fertilizer applications they missed last year.

Transportation giant Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) will reportedly be directed by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to make mandatory changes to some models of its Q400 turboprop. The Wall Street Journal said the move is intended to prevent future stalls of the model in icy conditions.

Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.7%, Germany’s DAX index gained 0.5%, and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.8%. Japan’s market was closed for a holiday.