The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market could find support from energy stocks Thursday as oil prices headed higher after three days of reverses.

But trading is likely to be cautious ahead of key earnings from the tech sector after the close. Investors also took in U.S. December retail and jobless insurance claims reports that missed expectations.

The Canadian dollar was ahead 0.05 of a cent to US97.08¢.

U.S. futures pointed to a weak open with the Dow Jones industrial futures ahead six points to 10,634, the Nasdaq futures slipped 1.5 points to 1,881 and the S&P 500 futures added 0.7 of a point to 1,142.3.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that retail sales dropped by 0.3% in December as sales for all of 2009 plunged by a record amount. Economists had expected a 0.5% gain.

The U.S. Labour Department says new claims for unemployment insurance rose by 11,000 to a seasonally adjusted 444,000. Wall Street economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected an increase of only 3,000.

Meanwhile, Intel Corp., the world’s biggest chip maker by volume, is expected to surpass analyst estimates of 30¢ a share, excluding items, which would be up from 4¢ a share a year ago.

Earlier this week, aluminum company Alcoa Inc. saw its share price tumble 11% after it reported lower than expected earnings for the fourth quarter.

“After Alcoa’s weaker numbers on Monday many will be nervous ahead of this release as any weaker numbers could dent confidence further as fears are already growing that we could see a disappointing earnings season,” said James Hughes, market analyst at CMC Markets.

Energy stocks could get some lift as the February crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 13¢ to US$79.78 a barrel. Crude fell about US$3 over the last two sessions as data pointed to rising U.S. inventories.

Other commodity prices advanced with the February gold contract on the Nymex ahead $1.90 to US$1,138.70 an ounce while March copper in New York added 2¢ to US$3.42 a pound.

Earlier in Asia, most indexes rallied amid receding worries about credit-tightening in China.

Economists say China’s planners are likely to confine tightening to technical tinkering to discourage excess lending and will likely wait some time before raising benchmark interest rates or cutting back on the government stimulus spending credited with helping revive domestic demand and creating jobs.

“Investors realized they were overreacting and tended to think the hike is necessary for the good of Chinese economy amid inflation expectations,” said Zhang Xiang, an analyst for Guodu Securities in Beijing.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average led Asia’s gains, jumping 1.6%. That was despite news that core machinery orders _ a closely watched indicator of corporate capital spending _ slumped to a record low in November as anemic domestic demand kept companies cautious.

But Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gave up early gains to close down 0.2%.

London’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.43%, Frankfurt’s DAX was up 0.48% while the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.4% as the European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged for the eighth month running at a historic low of 1%.

In Canadian earnings news, Canwest Global Communications Corp. (TSXV:CGS) said Wednesday it earned $652.5 million in its latest quarter, boosted by the sale of its stake in Ten Network Holdings in Australia .The media conglomerate, which is operating under court protection from creditors, said the profit compared with a loss of $36.9 million.

Shaw Communications (TSX:SJR.B) reported quarterly net income of $114 million, compared to $123 million for the same quarter last year.

Astral Media Inc. (TSX:ACM.B), the Montreal-based media and advertising company, says its profit jumped to $64.6 million in its fiscal first quarter. That included a large accounting gain from a change in future income tax rates. Excluding the impact of the new tax rate, Astral’s profit was $56.2 million in the quarter ended Nov. 30 _ still up substantially from $39.6 million a year earlier.

Xceed Mortgage Corp. (TSX: XMC) reported quarterly net income of $800,000, half the $1.6 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008. Xceed’s primary source of revenue is from the sale of pools of mortgage.