The Toronto stock market could find support from the resource sector at the open as oil and metal prices advanced on Wednesday.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.71 of a cent to 101.17 cents US. Appetite for riskier currencies such as the loonie was supported by a move by the European Central Bank to make €529.5 billion in low-interest loans to banks, the second round of a massive credit infusion.

The first offer of three-year, low-interest credit to banks on Dec. 21 has been credited with easing fears of a financial meltdown in the eurozone due to lack of confidence with governments with too much debt and too little growth.

Banks used some of the money from the first round of loans to buy government bonds, which in turn lowered borrowing costs for hard-pressed governments.

U.S. futures were positive with the Dow Jones industrial futures ahead seven points to 13,004 a day after the blue chip index closed above 13,000 for the first time since May, 2008. The Nasdaq futures gained three points to 2,635 while the S&P 500 futures were up 1.2 points to 1,372.6.

Oil prices rose slightly after data showed that U.S. crude and oil product inventories were mixed last week. The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories rose 521,000 barrels while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had predicted an increase of one million barrels.

Inventories of gasoline fell 916,000 barrels last week.

The April crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 28 cents to US$106.83 a barrel.

Prices dropped more than US$3 over the last two sessions but crude is still ending February up almost 12% this month, primarily over worries about Iran’s nuclear program and the possibility of supply disruptions.

Stock markets have been flat this week on worries that sharply higher crude prices could strain the U.S. economic recovery, pressure corporate earnings and worsen a recession in Europe.

Copper prices were also higher with the March contract up a penny to US$3.92 a pound. Signs of an improving U.S. economy and hopes that China will loosen lending requirements to encourage growth have boosted copper prices almost four per cent during February.

Bullion was off 90 cents to US$1,787.50 an ounce.

Torstar Corp. (TSX:TS.B), a newspaper and book publisher with growing digital businesses, reported a 77% jump in profits in the latest quarter to $64.3 million or 81 cents a share. But it added the advertising business remains soft because of the sluggish economy.

Quarterly revenues rose to $425.3 million from $417.5 million.

European markets were mixed with London’s FTSE 100 index down 0.07%, Frankfurt’s DAX gained 0.55% and the Paris CAC 40 was up 0.46%.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index edged up slightly after the government released a report that showed factory production rising for a second straight month in January.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.5%, South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.3% while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.8% higher.

But on mainland China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost one per cent.