The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market could be in for a slightly lower open amid falling commodity prices.

The Canadian dollar was off 0.04 of a cent to US95.64 cent as Statistics Canada announced the inflation rate shot up last month as the consumer price index rose more than half-a-point to 1.9%. It was the largest increase in more than a year but in line with expectations.

The higher inflation is regarded as temporary, since it is rooted in wild swings in world crude oil prices more than a year ago, when crude rose above US$147 a barrel in mid-2008 then fell precipitously in the following months.

At this time last year, oil prices were seeking a bottom as the global recession slashed demand.

U.S. futures pointed to a weak open amid a disappointing earnings report from Wal-Mart Stores and higher than expected jobless insurance claims.

The Dow Jones industrial futures were off 30 points to 10,266, the Nasdaq futures points edged 1.2 points lower to 1,810.5 despite a strong earnings report from Hewlett Packard while the S&P 500 futures declined four points to 1,095.6.

Oil prices fell below $77 a barrel Thursday on a stronger U.S. dollar and signs demand for gasoline and other fuels in the U.S. remains sluggish.

The March crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange lost 45¢ to US$76.88 a barrel.

U.S. inventories of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, rose 1.3 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute said Wednesday. Analysts, eyeing a cold weather spell in much of the U.S. this month, had expected a drop of 1.6 million barrels.

The Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration is scheduled to announce its supply report — the market benchmark — later Thursday.

The April gold contract on the Nymex dropped $12.20 to US$1,107.90 an ounce while the March copper contract in New York slipped 3¢ to US$3.21 a pound.

On the U.S. economic front, the number of newly laid off workers seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to 473,000, from 440,000 a week earlier.

Other data showed that wholesale prices surged by 1.4% in January, double the expected increase, as energy prices soared.

Earnings report from some of Canada’s biggest gold companies were in focus Thursday morning.

Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX) said on Thursday that fourth-quarter operating profit came in at $215 million, reversing a year ago loss of $468 million, amid stronger gold prices. It also reported that it was spinning off its African assets into a new publicly traded company to be called African Barrick Gold. Revenue jumped 13% to $2.36 billion.

Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. (TSX:AEM) said its fourth-quarter earnings more than doubled to US$47.9 million. It also said Wednesday that revenue soared to US$232 million compared with US$36.4 million in 2008 when the company suffered a writedown on the sale of available securities of US$39.2 million.

Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX:K) said Wednesday it earned US$235.6 million in its latest quarter compared to a loss of $968.8 million a year ago while its revenue grew by more than 40%.

In the oilpatch, Nexen Inc. (TSX:NSY) reported a $259-million net profit in the fourth quarter, a turnaround from the $181 million loss that the oil and gas producer experienced a year earlier.

In the U.S., Hewlett-Packard Co.’s profit swelled 25% to US$2.3 billion in the latest quarter because of cost-cutting and a stronger showing from its personal-computer division. Revenue was up in most of the technology company’s major divisions and HP raised its 2010 outlook, citing “accelerating market momentum.”

The latest earnings report from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. failed to excite buyers even as the retailer reported a 22% increase in its fourth-quarter profit. However, sales at stores open at least a year — an important measure of a retailer’s health — fell 1.6%. The company also offered a tepid earnings outlook.

Overseas, markets in China and Taiwan were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

South Korea’s Kospi stock index dropped 0.4% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.5%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 0.3%.

London’s FTSE 100 index gained 0.56%, Frankfurt’s DAX was up 0.34% and the Paris CAC 40 was ahead 0.39%.