Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed for a higher open Thursday as commodity prices rose against a falling U.S. dollar and investors took in solid earnings from the resource sector.

The Canadian dollar racked up a modest early gain, up a quarter of a US cent to 97.46 cents US after a strengthening U.S. currency pushed the looonie lower for the last two sessions.

U.S. futures indicated a positive open after strong earnings lifted global markets and the greenback resumed its slide.

Shares of Dow Chemical Co., Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. and Eastman Kodak Co. all rose after the companies earnings beat analysts’ expectations. Overseas markets rallied after strong results from pharmaceutical companies Bayer AG and Sanofi-Aventis SA as well as automaker Hyundai Motor Co.

The Dow Jones industrial futures rose 15 points to 11,087, the Nasdaq futures climbed 1.75 points to 2,126 and the S&P 500 futures gained 1.2 points to 1,180.

The December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped two cents to US$81.92 a barrel amid signs of rising supplies.

The U.S. Energy Department said commercial crude inventories rose five million barrels — more than the 1.5 million barrel increase expected by analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. — but gasoline inventories fell 4.4 million barrels.

However, metal prices headed upward with the December bullion contract on the Nymex ahead $6.90 to US$1,329.50 an ounce while December copper added two cents to US$3.80 a pound.

On the Canadian earnings front, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (TSX:POT) reported that its third quarter profits jumped to US$402.7 million or $1.32 a share, the second-highest earnings for the quarter in the company’s history. The report easily surpassed analyst expectations and compared with earnings of $247.9 million or 82 cents a share a year earlier.

The fertilizer giant is embroiled in a US$38.6 billion hostile takeover bid by BHP Billiton, the largest such takeover attempt in Canadian history.

Nexen Inc. (TSX:NXY) one of Canada’s most international oil producers, reported its net profit in the third quarter soared more than fourfold to $537 million as the company posted gains from the sale of assets. Three-month net sales rose to more than $1.4 billion from nearly $1,1 billion, while quarterly production before royalties was 239,000 daily barrels of oil equivalent output.

And Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) posted a record third-quarter profit of US$837 million or 84 cents per share, rising from a year-ago loss of $5.35 billion or $6.07 per share when it wound up of its gold hedging program. Gold production was ahead of targets on a lower then expected cost per ounce.

Uncertainty about the size of the Federal Reserve’s plan to buy government bonds in an effort to encourage lending pushed stock markets lower on Wednesday.

Sentiment was shaken by reports that the size of the Fed’s bond purchase may amount to a few hundred billion dollars, falling short of the US$500 billion to US$1 trillion previously estimated in the market.

Questions about the size of the stimulus plan, which involves printing more dollars to buy the Treasurys, have also injected volatility into currency markets.

The Fed will meet next week and details of any stimulus are expected to be announced when the meeting wraps up Nov. 3.

In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index closed down 0.2% and barely reacted to the Bank of Japan’s widely expected decision to leave its key interest rate unchanged at zero to 0.1%.

The central bank also cut its economic growth forecasts.

South Korea’s Kospi also fell, by 0.1% while Chinese indexes were mixed. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.2%.

London’s FTSE 100 index was ahead 0.53%, Frankfurt’s DAX improved by 0.47% while the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.6%.