Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed for a lower open Wednesday as commodity prices fell amid new worries about moves to curb lending in China and a stronger American currency.

The Canadian dollar moved higher against the greenback, with the loonie ahead 0.36 of a cent to 99.63 cents US.

U.S. futures looked set for a modest drop at the open as China’s leading credit rating agency lowered its view on the U.S. in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s decision to pump another US$600 billion into the U.S. economy.

The Dow futures were nine points lower to 11,304, the Nasdaq futures were down 0.25 of a point to 2,176 while the S&P 500 futures lost 1.7 points to 1,209.2.

Fresh worries about a slowing Chinese economy grew after the country’s central bank ordered banks to set aside more reserves in a new move to curb lending amid concern about rising inflation.

A surging Chinese economy has been of particular benefit to commodity prices and the resource-heavy Toronto stock market.

Also, China’s credit rating agency Dagong downgraded the long term sovereign rating of the U.S. to A-plus from AA. That was the second time in six months that Dagong has downgraded its rating on the U.S. and comes after China’s central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan said the Fed’s new money-boosting measures may hurt the rest of the world.

The move comes a day before G20 leaders meet in Seoul, South Korea.

The U.S. has also been criticized by emerging economies over the Fed’s latest move to stimulate the faltering economy. They are worried that another round of quantitative easing will further weaken the greenback by printing vast quantities of dollars and give an advantage to cheaper American exports.

China will also likely face criticism, most notably from U.S. President Barack Obama, that its policy of keeping the yuan low to boost exports is causing problems in the world economy.

Meanwhile, the American dollar gained against other currencies, particularly the euro as investors worry about the government debt crisis in Ireland.

The country’s borrowing costs are rising in the markets on a daily basis amid fears that the government will not be able to push through its next round of austerity measures and will be forced to seek help from its partners in the eurozone.

Concerns about lower demand from China helped push the December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange down 15 cents to US$86.57 a barrel.

The December copper contract on the Nymex lost seven cents to US$3.97 a pound while December gold slipped from Tuesday’s record close, down $15.10 to US$1,395 an ounce.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average was up 1.4%,

South Korea’s Kospi added 1.1% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.9%.

In corporate news, General Motors says it made US$2 billion in the third quarter, a strong showing that helps the company’s pitch to investors who may buy stock in an initial public offering, which is scheduled to take place Nov. 18. The latest result reverses a loss in the third quarter of last year when GM was just emerging from bankruptcy. Revenue rose 36% to US$34.1 billion.

First Quantum Minerals Ltd.’s third-quarter results missed analyst expectations. The company said Tuesday after markets closed that it lost US$124.4 million in the latest quarter after shutting down its Frontier copper operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, said the loss amounted to $1.70 per diluted share for the quarter. Excluding one-time charges such as Frontier, First Quantum earned $129.7 million or $1.62 per share. The average analyst estimate was for earnings of $2.10 per share on revenue of $569 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

Taseko Mines Ltd. (TSX:TKO) has issued an open letter to British Columbians assuring those who hung their hopes on the Prosperity gold and copper mine that the company isn’t giving up. Last week, the federal government rejected the $1 billion mine proposal, located 125 kilometres southwest of Williams Lake, citing environmental concerns.