The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed for a positive open Friday amid a eurozone bailout program for Greece.

News of a rescue package pushed the euro higher, the U.S. dollar moved lower and prices for oil and metals advanced.

U.S. futures also advanced as investors absorbed news of the plan, which would extend loans to Greece and involve the International Monetary Fund. But the loans could only be accessed if Greece or other financially troubled eurozone members cannot raise funds from financial markets.

The Dow Jones industrial futures gained 26 points to 10,817, the Nasdaq futures were up 6.2 points to 1,955.8 while the S&P 500 futures were ahead 3.1 points to 1,165.8.

However, analysts note that Greece will continue to have to pay a heavy price to borrow money to finance its huge debt. The spread between Greek 10-year bonds and equivalent German issues — a key indicator of market trust — narrowed to 305 basis points Friday, down from about 330 on Thursday morning. But the level remains high, translating to roughly twice Germany’s borrowing rate.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.19 of a cent to 97.39 cents US.

The TSX could get support from higher oil prices as the May crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 70 cents to US$81.23 a barrel.

The April gold contract on the Nymex ran up $4.80 to US$1,097.70 an ounce while May copper in New York rose four cents to US$3.42 a pound.

Before the open, investors will look to both a final reading of U.S. fourth-quarter gross domestic product and a report on March consumer sentiment for signs of an economic rebound.

The U.S. economic output for the fourth quarter likely will remain unchanged from a previous estimate. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters forecast GDP grew at a pace of 5.9 per cent in the final three months of 2009.

Meanwhile, economists predict the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for March likely inched higher to 73 from a previous estimate of 72.5.

In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average gained 1.6 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.2 per cent.

European markets were weak despite the Greek aid plan with London’s FTSE 100 index down 0.41 per cent, Frankfurt’s DAX was off 0.35 per cent while the Paris CAC 40 slipped 0.14 per cent.

In corporate news, two Canadian income trusts announced plans to change their makeup.

SFK Pulp Fund (TSX:SFK.UN) said Thursday it plans to convert to a corporate structure and change its name to Fibrek Inc. ahead of the tax changes for income trusts at the end of the year.

Industrial equipment distributor Strongco Income Fund (TSX:SQP.UN) said it plans to convert into a corporate structure by July 1 and doesn’t expect to pay dividends for the balance of 2010. It also reported revenue for the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31 were down more than 25 per cent from year earlier. It had a $2.1-million loss in the fourth quarter but broke even for the year.