Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market appeared set for mild gains Thursday morning as commodity prices stayed positive while traders awaited a key reading on unemployment claims and the start of earnings season in the United States.

The December bullion contract in New York gained $10.40 to US$1,358.10 an ounce.

Oil prices were higher with the November crude contract ahead 46 cents to US$83.69 a barrel on the Nymex.

The Canadian dollar edged down 0.02 of a cent to 98.92 cents US.

Traders will get a reading on the jobs market for the second straight day. The Labor Department is expected to report first-time claims for unemployment benefits crept higher last week. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters forecast claims rose by 2,000 to 455,000 last week.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 13, or 0.1%, to 10,9198. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 1.70, or 0.2%, to 1,157.40, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 0.75, or less than 0.1%, to 2,003.50.

Alamos Gold Inc. (TSX:AGI) expects a “significant” increase in gold production during its fourth quarter, which will help compensate for soft results in the third quarter. The company is maintaining annual gold production at 160,000 to 175,000 ounces for the year.

In the United States, PepsiCo said its third-quarter profit jumped in part on revenue gains following its acquisition of its two largest bottlers earlier this year. But PepsiCo earnings still fell short of forecasts, and the company narrowed its earnings outlook to a level below analysts’ forecasts.

Alcoa Inc. will be the first component of the Dow Jones industrial average to report earnings when it releases results after the market closes.

PepsiCo and Alcoa provide a glimpse into how companies were able to deal with slowing economic growth over the summer and provide insight into where corporate executives believe the economy is headed. Analysts have said earnings outlooks and revenue growth will be vital to propelling stocks higher in the next few weeks as hundreds of companies report results.