Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market appeared headed for a positive open Monday after European economic data came in above expectations and commodity prices advanced.

U.S. futures also signalled a higher open following a report which showed a 0.8% monthly increase in industrial production in April across the 16-nation eurozone.

The “figures suggest that the recovery in the sector continues at a decent pace, despite the fiscal crisis in the region,” said Jonathan Loynes, analyst at Capital Economics.

The Dow Jones industrial futures gained 62 points to 10,200, the Nasdaq futures were ahead 12.25 points to 1,854.75 while the S&P 500 futures were ahead 7.4 points to 1,092.4.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.53 of a cent to 97.26 cents US.

A stronger euro, which makes crude less expensive to investors with the European currency, also helped bolster oil prices. The euro gained to $1.2247 on Monday from $1.2125 on Friday.

The July crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $1.54 to US$75.32 a barrel.

The August gold contract on the Nymex declined $2.40 to US$1,227.80 an ounce while the July copper contract was ahead eight cents at US$2.98 a pound.

Stocks finished higher on Friday after a private report showed U.S. consumer confidence in June climbed to its strongest level since January 2008 and government statistics showed retail sales rising.

That boosted confidence at the end of the week — as did robust Chinese exports and actions by Spain to cope with a heavy deficit, said Francis Lun, general manager at Fulbright Securities.

The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index showed Friday that U.S. consumer confidence grew to 75.5 — coming in well ahead of forecasts.

The TSX ended the week up 0.84% while the Dow Jones rose 2.8%.

Overseas markets also advanced as London’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.51%, Frankfurt’s DAX was up 1.1% while the Paris CAC 40 advanced 1.6%.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average gained 1.6%, South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.7%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.9%.

In corporate news, Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) announced an agreement to sell all of its shares in Petro-Canada Netherlands B.V. to Dana Petroleum PLC for $582 million. Suncor has been selling off a number of non-core assets, including all oil and gas producing assets in the United States Rockies, non-core natural gas properties in Western Canada and all Trinidad and Tobago assets. Remaining proposed divestments include natural gas assets in Western Canada and non-core North Sea assets.

The board of BP PLC will on Monday discuss U.S. demands to suspend dividend payments to shareholders until the British company pays for the cleanup of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP has a number of options regarding dividend payments and analysts believe the company is unlikely to scrap it altogether. Any decision is not expected to be announced immediately, with BP executives due to meet president Barack Obama in Washington on Wednesday.