The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market could be headed for a weak open Wednesday amid lower commodity prices and ahead of remarks later in the morning from U.S. Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.03 of a cent to US94.67¢.

U.S. futures pointed to a slightly higher open a day after North American indexes fell sharply following a surprising drop in U.S. consumer confidence reported Tuesday by the Conference Board in its February report.

The Dow Jones industrials futures rose 15 points to 10,314, the Nasdaq futures advanced six points to 1,807 and the S&P 500 futures gained 1.4 points to 1,098.6.

Oil prices remained below US$79 a barrel Wednesday as a report showed U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly fell last week — a tentative sign that demand may be improving. The April crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange moved down 31¢ to US$78.55 a barrel.

The April gold contract on the Nymex declined $9.40 to US$1,093.80 an ounce while March copper in New York dipped 2¢ to US$3.19 a pound.

Bernanke starts his semiannual two-day testimony before Congress about the health of the economy.

The Fed surprised investors last week by hiking its discount rate, which it charges banks for emergency loans. Traders will want Bernanke to continue to provide reassurances that it plans to keep its benchmark rate at historic lows to encourage growth.

On the economic front, the U.S. Commerce Department is expected to show that new home sales rose in January, after declining sharply a month earlier. Sales of new homes likely rose 5.3 per cent in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 360,000 units, according to economists polled by Thomson Reuters.

Thomson Reuters Inc. (TSX:TRI) announced Wednesday that it is raising its annual dividend by 4¢ to $1.16 a share. The information services company says that net income fell to US$182 million or 21¢ a share in the fourth quarter, down from $566 million or 67¢ a share a year earlier. Overall revenue fell slightly to US$3.36 billion from US$3.4 billion.

In other earnings news, heavy equipment dealer Finning International Inc. (TSX:FTT) earned $16.3 million in its latest quarter even as revenue fell 28% compared with a year ago. But the company said it was seeing signs of recovery led by mining. It added its backlog has posted the first increase since 2008.

The leading supplier of store-brand beverages, Cott Corp. (TSX:BCB), reported quarterly net income of US$14 million, a turnaround from the US$12.1 million loss a year earlier. Revenue improved by 3.9% to US$386 million.

Centerra Gold Inc. (TSX:CG) said Tuesday it earned US$140 million in its latest quarter as the miner increased production and a higher price for gold. The Toronto-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, said Tuesday the profit amounted to 60¢ per share on $323.9 million in revenue for the quarter.

In the U.S., luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. said the slow recovery of the housing market helped it report a narrower quarterly loss. The luxury homebuilder also said it sees hints of a housing recovery.

Overseas, London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.37%, Frankfurt’s DAX was up 0.17% while the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.21%.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average fell 1.5%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.8%.