The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market could be in for a slightly higher open after two days of losses as oil and metal prices rose.

The Canadian dollar was ahead 0.09 of a cent to 97.52 cents US, its highest level since mid-January.

The loonie’s latest advance came amid a report from CIBC World Markets that said expectations of higher interest rates and investor demand for Canada will help drive the currency past parity with the U.S. greenback by this summer.

U.S. futures pointed to a flat start to the session as the Dow Jones industrial futures moved up two points to 10,566, the Nasdaq futures climbed 2.75 points to 1,904 and the S&P 500 futures ticked 0.1 of a point higher to 1,140.6.

Oil prices moved closer to US$82 a barrel, as surging trade figures in China and a weaker U.S. dollar helped offset an inventory report providing mixed evidence about U.S. crude demand.

Benchmark crude for April delivery was up 25 cents to $81.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil prices were supported by a steep rise in Chinese trade figures, with February exports up 45.7% on the year and imports surging 44.7%, a reflection of growing demand in China as it emerges from the global crisis.

Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. crude inventories jumped last week by 6.5 million barrels. Analysts had expected that a cold weather spell in much of the U.S. this month would have resulted in a drop of 1.6 million barrels. However, inventories of gasoline and distillates fell more than expected.

The April gold contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose US$3.70 to US$1,126 an ounce while May copper was up two cents to US$3.43 a pound.

In earnings news, media company Quebecor Inc. (TSX:QBR.B) said it had a $73.8-million profit in the fourth quarter. The company had a $343.6-million loss in the fourth quarter of 2008 as it wrote down the value of goodwill and other intangible assets. Revenue from all segments grew $25.6 million to just under $1.03 billion.

Brookfield Real Estate Services Fund (TSX:BRE.UN) reported that its net income increased to $1.5 million in the fourth quarter, about seven times higher than it was a year earlier, as the royalties it received from brokerages rose nearly 10%.

Elsewhere, Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs wants an appeals court to kill the sale of Canwest Global Communications’ television assets to cable operator Shaw Communications (TSX:SJR.B). Goldman helped Canwest (TSXV:CGS) finance the acquisition of a variety of specialty channels including Showcase and History Television as part of a takeover of Alliance Atlantis for $2.3 billion in 2007.

Goldman called the TV sale process corrupt, and asked the Ontario Court of Appeal to reconsider other purchase proposals, including one backed by Goldman, that were “wrongly” rejected by the bankruptcy court.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell less than 0.1%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended flat.

London’s FTSE 100 index added 0.07%, Frankfurt’s DAX rose 0.22% while the Paris CAC 40 climbed 0.33%.