Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market was poised for a moderately higher open Wednesday as commodity prices rose and China took new steps to slow its economy.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.73 cents to 98.47 cents US even as the greenback made gains against most other currencies and investors seek the safety of the U.S. dollar amidst global uncertainty over Irish debt and reports that tensions are mounting in North and South Korea.

China’s government is widening its anti-inflation campaign, Wednesday ordering a crackdown on speculators it accuses of illegally pushing up commodity prices.

The order comes as Beijing enforces measures announced last week to cool food prices that soared more than 10% in October. Analysts expect Beijing to hike interest rates in coming months to rein in inflation even as Washington and other major developed economies try to shore up lacklustre growth.

The January crude contract was up 33 cents at US$81.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The December copper contract on the Nymex was up two cents to US$3.73 a pound, while the December gold contract gained $1.50 to US$1376.10 an ounce.

In the U.S., markets were also on their way to a modest bounceback as futures markets moved higher on the easing uncertainty.

The Dow Jones futures were up 29 points to 11,043 points. The S&P 500 futures were up 3.90 points to 1,182.

Investors await a slew of economic data out of the U.S.
Wednesday, including reports on personal income and spending and consumer confidence levels, which should be key to gauging the pre-holiday shopping mood as retailers biggest sales period kicks off Friday.

Canadian investors have their eyes on Maple Leaf Foods (TSX:MFI), which halted trading of its shares just before market close Tuesday after the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board said it is selling about 21 million common shares, reducing the fund’s stake in the company to 9.9% from the current 25.2%.

Teachers sold its entire stake Tuesday for 17% below market value.

In other Canadian corporate news, Cameco (TSX:CCO) announced Tuesday it signed an agreement with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. Ltd. to supply 13 million kilograms of uranium concentrate under a long-term agreement through 2025.

Political tensions in the Korean peninsula receded, while the euro briefly fell below $1.33 for the first time in two months amid worries that Europe’s debt crisis was spiralling out of control and heading for Portugal and Spain.

Experts said the bailout, which is expected to amount to around 90 billion euros (US$123 billion), has done little to shield other heavily indebted countries from a potential collapse in investor confidence.

A number of analysts are blaming German Chancellor Angela Merkel for much of the current turmoil in the markets. Once again, she said Tuesday that the euro faces serious risks from the highly indebted countries.

“Merkel’s comments were very unhelpful because they give the impression that she wouldn’t mind if the periphery countries fall out of the euro,” said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital. “The bond market vigilantes are certainly seeing a turn for the worst in all this and in the short-term are focusing on Spain.”

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index was up 0.6%, while Germany’s DAX fell 1.3%, and France’s CAC-40 was 0.3% higher.