The Canadian Press

Toronto stock market could be headed for a lower open Thursday amid falling commodity prices, concerns about European economic problems and a slew of corporate earnings reports.

The Canadian dollar moved down 0.42 of a cent to US94.46¢.

U.S. futures also indicated a lower open with the Dow Jones industrial futures down 55 points to 10,300, the Nasdaq futures moved down 10 points to 1,804 while the S&P 500 futures declined 7.4 points to 1,096.2.

Overseas worries deepened after the European Commission said economic sentiment in the 16 countries that use the euro worsened unexpectedly in February. Concerns that Greece will struggle to cut its budget and get debt problems under control are again worrying investors.

They also overshadowed more assurances Wednesday from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that borrowing costs will stay at rock-bottom lows for a while yet.

Any hopes that Greece could slash its budget deficit by four percentage points to 8.7% of GDP this year were diminished after Standard & Poor’s said it was monitoring the situation closely.

“In our view, a further downgrade of one to two notches is possible within a month,” said Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Marko Mrsnik.

A two-notch downgrade would take S&P’s rating on Greece to BBB- — the lowest level accepted by the European Central Bank as collateral for loans. Moody’s current rating on Greece is A2, although that may be lowered soon.

The April crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 73¢ to US$79.27 a barrel after rising more than US$1 Wednesday despite data showing sharply rising inventories.

The April bullion contract on the Nymex lost $5.50 to US$1,091.70 an ounce while March copper dipped 5¢ to US$3.18 a pound.

Earnings from the big banks featured prominently among a long list of earnings announcements on Thursday.

CIBC (TSX:CM) reported its quarterly profit was $652 million or $1.58 per diluted share, up from $147 million or 29¢ per share a year ago.

Revenue also grew by about $1 billion to $3.06 billion. The provision for credit losses of $365 million was up from $278 million a year ago, primarily due to higher write-offs and bankruptcies in credit cards, as well as higher losses in personal lending.

Elsewhere, auto parts giant Magna International (TSX:MG.A) reported a net loss of US$139 million or $1.25 per share, an improvement on a year-earlier loss of US$148 million or $1.33 per diluted share. The Ontario-based company’s overall sales grew to US$5.4 billion from $4.8 billion, with most of the growth coming from Europe.

Tim Hortons Inc. (TSX:THI) brewed up a bigger profit in its latest quarter, handing in net income of $91 million, or 51¢ per diluted share in the fourth quarter — up 32% from last year. Revenue increased by 9.2% to $615.3 million. The company is also increasing its dividend rate, with the quarterly payout rising by 30%, to 13¢ per common share.

Uranium miner Cameco Corp. (TSX:CCO) reported fourth quarter net earnings of $598 million, or $1.52 per share, compared to $31 million, or $0.08 per share in the fourth quarter of 2008. The significantly higher net earnings were primarily a result of the sale of the company’s stake in Centerra Gold (TSX:CG), for $871 million, recording an after-tax gain of $374 million.

SFK Pulp Fund (TSX: SFK.UN) cited lower pulp prices for a major turnaround in its fourth-quarter results Wednesday. The Quebec-based company said it suffered a loss of $15.7 million or 18¢ a unit, compared with a profit of $3.96 million or 4¢ a unit in the 2008 quarter. Consolidated sales slumped more than $9 million to $115.7 million.

In other corporate news, Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) has received a firm order for 40 of its new CSeries airliners. The contract with Republic Airways Holdings Inc. of Indianapolis is valued at about US$3.06 billion and could be worth double that if Republic exercises options for 40 additional planes. It’s the largest order yet for the CSeries, a critical component of Bombardier’s future growth.

Earlier in Asia, the Nikkei 225 stock average fell 1%. Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. edged down 0.2%
after president Akio Toyoda, appearing before U.S. lawmakers, apologized for safety lapses that have led to deaths and widespread recalls.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.3%.

@page_break@London’s FTSE 100 index was down 0.36%, Frankfurt’s DAX declined 0.04% while the Paris CAC 40 lost 0.48%.