Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed towards a modestly higher open amid rising oil and copper prices.

The Canadian dollar was up a fifth of a US cent to 97.64 cents US as traders focused attention Friday to a G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in South Korea amid rising tensions over a brewing currency battle that could affect global trade.

There are worries that some countries like China are holding their currencies at artificially low levels. That gives them an advantage in exporting goods as the global economy slowly recovers from a deep recession.

U.S. futures were higher amid little in economic news or corporate earnings data on the calendar.

The Dow Jones industrial futures gained 27 points to 11,110, the Nasdaq futures rose 4.25 points to 2,084 while the S&P 500 futures gained 3.3 points to 1,179.

Meanwhile, Canada’s annual inflation rate rose two-tenths of a point to 1.9% last month as the cost of energy and new cars jumped higher. Despite the increase, inflationary pressures remain subdued. The Bank of Canada’s core rate, which measures underlying price pressures by excluding volatile items such as energy, actually fell to 1.5% in September from 1.6%.

Oil and metal prices headed higher even as the U.S. currency strengthened, a move which often helps depress commodity prices.

The December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 80 cents to US$81.36 after losing almost US$2 on Thursday amid a rising greenback.

The correlation between a weaker dollar and higher commodity prices, and vice versa, seemed to have been lost Thursday and Friday, but analysts said the high volatility in currency trading may have been behind the change.

“A number of minor trends, lasting for several hours each, have pushed currency quotes up and down in quick succession,” said a report from Cameron Hanover. “This has been difficult for oil traders — and markets — to follow.”

The December copper contract on the Nymex rose two cents to US$3.80 a pound while December gold in New York dipped $1.80 to US$1,323.80 an ounce.

Stocks have been buoyed much of this week by a run of positive U.S. corporate earnings statements, from the likes of Boeing, McDonald’s and Goldman Sachs.

Sentiment has been also helped by continuing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will be pumping more money into the U.S. economy after its next policy meeting on Nov. 3.

“Right now traders appear to be pausing for breath,” said Anthony Grech, head of research at IG Index. “With little fundamental data due for release today, the temptation is probably to start unwinding some risk ahead of the weekend break.”

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index gained 0.5% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.7%.

Elsewhere, China’s Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.3%.

London’s FTSE 100 index dipped 0.09%, Frankfurt’s DAX rose 0.11%, and the Paris CAC 40 edged up 0.16%.

In corporate news, Lundin Mining Corp. (TSX:LUN) says it’s pleased that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has completed its review of the Tenke Fungurume Mining copper-cobalt mining contracts in Katanga province. Lundin’s equity share of TFM will fall to 24% from 24.75% but the company will benefit from increased interest payments on advances. Other key fiscal terms remain unchanged.

Energy services company Schlumberger Ltd.’s earnings jumped in the third quarter as revenue rose due to increased land-based drilling by its customers in the United States and Canada. The Houston drilling services provider said net income soared to US$1.73 billion, or $1.38 per share. Excluding one-time items, earnings were 70 cents per share, which topped analysts’ views by a penny.