Toronto stock market poised for higher open

Wall Street was set to open higher, with Dow futures up 47 points 11,825, Nasdaq futures ahead 12 points at 2,244.8 and the broader S&P 500 futures up 6.8 points at 1,217.70.

And commodities were mostly higher, with the January oil contract up 58 cents to $94.11.

The February gold contract added US$7.80 to US$1,605.70 per ounce, while copper shed a penny to US$3.32 per pound.

Investors also weighed the potential consequences of the death of North Korea’s absolute ruler, Kim Jong Il. The announcement, made Monday by North Korean state television, raises the spectre of more instability on the divided Korean peninsula.

Analysts warn Kim’s death could cause an uncertain power transition and put the brakes on talks aimed at getting the secretive communist state to give up its nuclear weapons.

Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader’s untested third son and heir-apparent, is expected to want to consolidate his power and dispel any notions of weakness.

But after Asian indexes closed lower, European stocks recovered, with Germany’s DAX up 0.7% Paris’ CAC 40 index rose 0.2% and Britain’s FTSE gained 0.3%.

Kim’s death overshadowed what already was a gloomy start to the week after Fitch warned after the market close on Friday that it may downgrade the credit ratings of heavyweights Italy and Spain, as well as Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland and Slovenia.

EU finance ministers will discuss later Monday how much money their countries will lend to the International Monetary Fund in a conference call.

This week ushers in the Christmas holiday period, a time that in most years has seen little movement in markets amid sharply lower volumes until senior traders get back from vacation in early January.

The TSX lost 399 points or 3.31% last week in a tug of war that has become all too familiar in 2011 with traders balancing bad news from Europe with economic data showing that the economic recovery in the United States is still on the rails.

Meanwhile, it’s a light week for economic data heading into the four-day Christmas shutdown on the TSX.

On the domestic front, most attention will be paid to data showing how the economy performed in October. Statistics Canada is expected to report that gross domestic product likely was flat for the month following a 0.2% rise in September.

Statistics Canada also reports the latest inflation data on Tuesday.

In domestic news, investors will be watching BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (TSX:RIM) after its shares plunged Friday after slashing its forecast for holiday sales and turning in disappointing quarterly results.

Contract drug maker Patheon Inc. (TSX:PTI) reported a big increase in both its fourth-quarter with US$5.4 million or just over four cents per share. That compared with a net loss of US$1.78 million or more than a penny per share in the same year-earlier period.

Revenue was US$181.6 million, up from US$177.7 million.

Meanwhile, First Uranium Corp. (TSX:FIU) says it may have to trim 1,850 jobs at its Ezulwini mine in South Africa — about half the workforce there — in a move to improve profitability and cut operating costs.