The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed for a higher open Tuesday as commodity prices rose and European countries pledged to help Greece with loans.

The exact form of the help – likely some form of bilateral loan – was yet to be decided. Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the eurozone group, said European Union leaders meeting later this month would make the final decision on the size and the type of financial rescue.

Greece needs to borrow euro54 billion (US$74 billion) this year – euro20 billion of that in April and May – but is being forced to pay higher interest rates than more fiscally prudent European nations.

U.S. futures indicated a positive start to the trading day ahead of an afternoon announcement by the U.S. Federal Reserve on interest rates.

The Dow Jones industrial futures rose 13 points to 10,589, the Nasdaq futures gained four points to 1,921 while the S&P 500 futures were ahead 1.8 points to 1,147.5.

The Canadian dollar rose a fifth of US cent to 98.27 cents US.

The TSX could find lift from higher oil and metal prices. The April crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 23 cents to US$80.03 a barrel.

Prices rose ahead of a meeting of OPEC later in the week with expectations high the cartel will leave output unchanged. With U.S. demand for oil lacklustre, even traditional price hawks like Iran and Venezuela are happy with present prices around US$80 a barrel.

The April bullion contract on the Nymex gained US$7.80 to US$1,11.20 an ounce while May copper in New York added three cents to US$3.34 a pound.

Investors widely expect the Fed to hold its key interest rate near zero. But investors will be looking to the Fed’s statement to see if there are any clues about when rates might change.

The Fed has repeatedly said inflation is not a near-term problem, and it plans to keep rates low for an “extended period.”

Any change in the language of the statement that indicates the Fed will raise rates sooner rather than later could spark a sell-off in the market.

In corporate news, WestJet Airlines Ltd. (TSX:WJA) will be in focus after Sean Durfy resigned as president and CEO of the carrier on April 1 for “personal reasons.” The airline praised Durfy for spearheading several strategic growth initiatives, including the launch of its vacation package business as well as the implementation of two new reservation systems, airline partnerships and reward programs.

Metals miner First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (TSX:FM) reported a fourth-quarter profit of US$227.2 million, reversing a year-ago loss of $491.6 million, as the gold and copper miner was helped by improved prices.

Overseas, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock average fell 0.3% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.3%.

London’s FTSE100 index rose 0.28%, Frankfurt’s DAX gained 0.68% and the Paris CAC 40 was up 0.82%.