Tuesday outlook: Weak commodities could push TSX lower

New York futures pointed to a higher open as investors hope that new data on economic output and housing sales will show the economy is continuing to recover.

The Dow Jones industrial futures advanced 53 points to 10,395, the Nasdaq futures were ahead 9.5 points to 1,835 and the S&P 500 futures gained 4.5 points to 1,112.7.

The ABCP settlement deal will see National Bank (TSX:NA) paying the majority with its share totalling $75 million in penalties and investigation costs.

Several other banks, including CIBC (TSX:CM), HSBC and Laurentian Bank (TSX:LB), will make up the rest.

The Canadian ABCP market ground to a halt in August 2007 amid fears the assets behind the notes included U.S. subprime mortgages and other high-risk loans.

Energy stocks could be under pressure as oil prices moved lower for a second day with the February crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange down 72¢ to US$73 a barrel.

Other commodity prices moved lower with February gold on the Nymex down $8.30 to US$1,087.70 an ounce while March copper declined three cents to US$3.13 a pound.

The U.S. government will release its final update on economic activity from the third quarter during the morning. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, forecast the nation’s economy grew at a 2.8% annual rate. That would match the most recent estimate.

Traders are also awaiting a report that is expected to show sales of existing homes rose to their highest level in nearly three years. Economists predict home sales rose 2.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.25 million in November, from 6.1 million in October.

Overseas, Japan led Asia’s advance as the yen continued to fall against the dollar — a lower yen makes Japanese exports more competitive, all other things being equal.

The Nikkei 225 stock average jumped 1.9% to close at a three-month high.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.7%.

London’s FTSE 100 index was up one% as data showed that the British economy did not contract as much as previously thought during the third quarter. The country’s statistics office said the British economy shrank by only 0.2% in during the July-September period, lower than its previous estimate of 0.3%.

Frankfurt’s DAX gained 0.33% while the Paris CAC 40 was ahead 0.56%.

In corporate news, Parkland Income Fund (TSX:PKI.UN) says it will become the largest independent petroleum distributor in Canada with the $214-million purchase of Bluewave Energy Limited Partnership, a privately held company based in Dartmouth, N.S.

Bluewave distributes Shell-branded fuels and has operations across in the country except in Manitoba, Quebec and Newfoundland.

Ballard Power Systems (TSX:BLD) expects to book a $34 million gain in its fourth-quarter results by cashing in on its 19.9% equity interest in Automotive Fuel Cell Co-operation Corp. (AFCC). In recent years, Ballard has shifted its focus away from fuel cells for automobiles to areas such as materials handling, which includes fuel cell for forklifts in warehouses, as well as backup power units.