Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market could be in for a higher open amid rising oil prices and good economic news from China.

Wall Street pointed to a positive open with the Dow Jones industrial futures ahead 74 points to 9,977, the Nasdaq futures gaining 14 points to 1,796.2 while the S&P 500 futures were up 9.7 points to 1,065.2.

The Canadian dollar climbed 0.57 of a cent to 96.33 cents US.

The June crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 39 cents to US$74.77 a barrel, boosted by data from the U.S. Department of Energy that crude inventories fell last week.

Gold prices fell further away from Tuesday’s record high close, down $3.90 to US$1,226 an ounce while July copper in New York was unchanged at US$2.85 a pound.

China said exports rose 48.5% in May, while imports jumped 48.3% last month. The data was good news to investors worried that a European government debt crisis would derail a global economic recovery.

An economic recovery in China and other developing nations has outpaced a rebound in more developed economies, so a pullback there would deal a blow to global growth.

However, the Chinese data had been leaked on Wednesday. The news had initially pushed commodity prices and the TSX higher but the Toronto market ended the session negative due to late day selling pressure on the euro, which fell below the important US$1.20 threshold.

The currency has become an indicator of investor confidence in Europe’s economy. It has also heavily influenced global stock markets in recent weeks because of concerns that rising debt in countries like Greece, Spain and Portugal would upend a global economic recovery.

On Thursday, the euro was trading at US$1.2045.

Wednesday’s late day pullback also came as traders grew concerned about whether BP PLC will be able maintain its dividend or possibly have to file for bankruptcy protection as it faces growing claims from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank said Thursday it is leaving its key interest rate unchanged at 1%.

The Bank of England also announced it was leaving its base interest rate at a record low of 0.5% for the 16th consecutive month.

London’s FTSE 100 index rose 0.24%, Frankfurt’s DAX gained 0.39% while the Paris CAC 40 was up 0.57%.

In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average on Thursday added 0.7%, South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.9% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5%.

However, the Shanghai Composite Index retreated 0.4% with some investors anticipating negative news when China releases its inflation data Friday.

On the corporate front, yoga wear retailer Lululemon Athletica (TSX:LLL) reported that its first quarter net profits tripled to $19.6 million, compared to earnings of $6.5 million a year ago. Net revenues for the first quarter rose 69.3% to $138.3 million.

Discount retailer Dollarama Inc. (TSX:DOL) said its first-quarter profit doubled to $22.4 million as sales increased by 14% from the same time last year.

Travel company Transat A.T. Inc. (TSX:TRZ.B) said intense competition and a strong Canadian dollar had a negative impact on its latest quarterly financial results. Net income fell to $6.2 million, down from $42.2 million in the year-earlier quarter. Transat’s revenue fell to just under $1.1 billion — a decline of $69 million from the second quarter of last year.

Oilfield services company North American Energy Partners Inc. (TSX:NOA) turned in a fourth quarter loss of $943,000, compared with a year earlier loss of $137.1 million when results were hobbled by a $143.4 million impairment of goodwill. The company had an annual profit of $28.2 million.