Stocks to open up amid heavy slate of earnings

U.S. futures were positive with the Dow Jones industrial futures ahead 30 points to 12,873, the Nasdaq futures gained four points to 2,548.8 and the S&P 500 futures were up three points to 1,350.

The Canadian corporate earnings season moved into high gear with reports coming in from some of the biggest names in the financial, communications and resource sectors.

Telecommunications giant BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE) said profits were up nearly 53% in the fourth quarter to $486 million or 62 cents a share. Adjusted earnings rose 5.1% to 62 cents a share, missing estimates by four cents.

Revenues increased 10.4% to $5.17 billion.

Mining company Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B) reported fourth quarter profit attributable to shareholders nearly doubled to $637 million, or $1.08 per share, a penny ahead of analyst expectations. Quarterly revenues totalled $3 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $2.7 billion a year ago.

Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC) reported a fourth-quarter loss of $69 million, compared to a year-ago profit of $1.79 billion, as it booked a charge of $665 million related to low interest rates. Total revenue was $9.7 billion from $3.42 billion a year earlier.

In other earnings news, Air Canada (TSX:AC.B) reported a quarterly net loss of $60 million.

Oilfield services company Precision Drilling Corp. (TSX:PD) handed in quarterly net profits of $28 million or 10 cents a share.

Traders were also focused on Greece as the country tried to arrange a €130 billion bailout to stave off bankruptcy as early as late next month. The country’s political leaders first have to approve a package of new austerity measures demanded by creditors.

Talks involving the country’s political leaders and international debt inspectors stalled overnight after leaders of the three parties backing Greece’s coalition government approved sweeping new austerity measures. But they balked at demands to make €300 million in pension cuts and another €325 million in savings.

The sums are relatively small compared with the bailout package, but if Athens does not make up for it, it faces a potentially devastating default next month, which would send shockwaves across the financial system.

Markets nevertheless seemed hopeful that a deal will eventually be reached, with analysts suggesting the political leaders wanted to show their resistance to the foreign demands ahead of general elections later this year.

Commodity prices were mixed as the March crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange headed 75 cents higher to US$99.46 a barrel.

Prices had also advanced Wednesday even as the U.S. Energy Information Administration said that U.S. petroleum demand fell by 4.8% to a four-week average of 18.1 million barrels per day, the weakest four-week average since April 1997.

The EIA also reported that the U.S. crude supplies increased by 300,000 barrels last week.

Copper prices were slightly lower as investors eyed data showing January inflation figures for China came in well above expectations.

Consumer prices in the world’s second-largest economy rose by an unexpectedly strong 4.5% over a year earlier, up from December’s 4.1%. Food prices jumped 10.5%, accelerating from the previous month’s 9.1% rate.

The price spike could complicate the government’s efforts to revive growth that slowed to a two-and-a-half-year low of 8.9% in the final quarter of 2011.

Markets have been hoping that inflation would move lower, allowing Chinese leaders to loosen lending requirements and encourage growth.

China is the world’s biggest consumer of copper, which has surged almost 14% so far this year on hopes for higher demand for the metal that is viewed as an economic bellwether because it is used in so many businesses.

The March copper contract in New York dipped one cent to US$3.90 a pound.

Bull ion prices edged higher with the April contract ahead $3.20 to US$1,734.50 an ounce.

European markets were higher as the European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low one per cent on Thursday while it waits to see whether the economy needs more help. The 17 countries that use the euro are struggling with a debt crisis and likely recession.

The Bank of England also left rates unchanged but announced it would buy 50 billion pounds more in bonds to stimulate the lagging British economy. Output contracted 0.2% in the fourth quarter and another quarter of shrinkage would official mean recession.

Two rate cuts by the ECB in November and December, and a massive offer of cheap credit to banks, have been given credit for helping steady financial markets and ease access to credit by indebted governments.

London’s FTSE 100 index was ahead 0.27%, Frankfurt’s DAX gained 0.74% and the Paris CAC 40 was up 0.83%.

Earlier, Asian shares were muted by the higher than expected Chinese inflation figures.

On mainland China, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1% while the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 0.6%.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closed down 0.2% while South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.5% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped marginally.