TSX set to open little changed following steep losses

U.S. futures were higher as traders looked ahead to quarterly earnings from resource giant Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) after the close. The release of Alcoa’s earnings is regarded as the start to the quarterly earnings season while the aluminum company itself is regarded as an important gauge of economic growth as its products are used in everything from appliances to vehicles to aircraft.

Analysts expect Alcoa to post earnings of eight cents per share, two cents less than a year ago, reflecting aluminum prices which are at five month lows.

The Dow Jones industrial futures gained 35 points to 14,519, the Nasdaq futures were 10.25 points higher at 2,773.25 and the S&P 500 futures were up 5.25 points at 1,551.25.

Commodity prices were higher after losing ground last week.

The June crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 87 cents to US$93.57 a barrel. Prices fell almost five per cent after data late last week showed that crude in storage in the U.S. was at its highest level since 1990 even though refiners had begun to ramp up gasoline production to get ready for the summer driving season.

May copper gained four cents to US$3.38 a pound after miners in Chile, the world’s biggest producer, said they would announce a nationwide strike on Monday.

June bullion in New York added 50 cents to US$1,576.40 an ounce.

The Toronto stock market lost 3.25% last week in the wake of purchasing managers data from China that missed expectations and disappointing reads on the American manufacturing and service sectors. The week was capped off by jobs data from Canada and the U.S. that widely missed expectations, raising doubts about the pace of economic growth and putting fresh pressure on resource-based stocks.

New York markets on the other hand have managed to hold on to the strong gains netted so far this year amid a resurgent housing market and continued stimulus measures from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Dow ended last week flat but is still up 11% year to date.

As well as a run of earnings this week, investors hope to get a better idea from the U.S. Federal Reserve about whether the central bank plans to withdraw some of its monetary stimulus. Minutes to the last policy meeting of the Fed are due to be published Wednesday.

European markets advanced amid signs that Europe’s largest economy is stabilizing after a contraction in the fourth quarter. German industrial output rose 0.5% in February from January, when it contracted 0.6%. That reading was higher than the 0.3% gain economists had expected.

London’s FT SE 100 index gained 0.41%, Frankfurt’s DAX was up 0.34% and the Paris CAC 40 advanced 0.68%.

Earlier in Asia, investors had a raft of issues to deal with as well as their first response to Friday’s U.S. payrolls figures.

The Nikkei in Tokyo piled on more gains as the yen’s dramatic fall boosted the country’s powerhouse export sector. The Japanese yen has weakened sharply since last Thursday’s decision by the Bank of Japan to overhaul its monetary policy in a bid to snap Japan out of years of deflation.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shot up 2.8% to close at 13,192.59, its highest close since August 2008.

Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.4% to close at lowest level since November 2012 as tensions between the two Koreas remained elevated. North Korea has for weeks been threatening military or other action to punish South Korea and the U.S. for holding joint military drills.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index bounced between gains and losses as investors sized up the potential threat from an outbreak of a new bird flu strain that has sickened 21 people, killing six of them. All cases have been reported in the eastern part of China. The Hang Seng fell marginally.

On the corporate front, Bombardier Transportation says it has been granted a US$440-million contract to design and supply major components for the next generation ICx high speed trains for Deutsche Bahn AG. The order comes under a framework agreement with Siemens AG signed in May 2011. DB AG recently expanded its original order by an additional 170 coaches.