The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market seemed headed for a higher start Wednesday as mostly encouraging economic data emerged on both sides of the border.

Statistics Canada said manufacturing sales advanced 2% in October to $42.5 billion, their fourth increase in five months.

In the U.S., the Commerce Department said construction of new homes rebounded in November, helped by better weather. Construction of new homes and apartments rose 8.9% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 574,000 units.

The Commerce Department also reported that the current account deficit rose to US$108 billion in the third quarter, an increase of 10.3% from the second quarter, providing signs that the U.S. economy was beginning to rebound as demand for foreign goods increased.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 4.67 points to 11,541.02 on Tuesday.

The Canadian dollar was ahead 0.7 of a cent to US94.29¢ in morning trading.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 38 points to 10,497 and the Nasdaq futures rose 11 to 1,806. S&P 500 index futures rose 5.20 to 1,109.10.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, which concludes its two-day meeting Wednesday afternoon, is expected to stick to its easy monetary policy and keep rates unchanged. It’s unexpected that rates will rise from their record low level, but the economic data was a reminder the central bank could be forced to act sooner than expected to keep inflation at bay.

The Fed’s statement on rates and policies is expected at 2:15 p.m. EST.

In other Fed news, Chairman Ben Bernanke has been named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” for 2009.

In corporate developments, Crescent Point Energy Corp. (TSX:CPG) says it’s acquiring property from Penn West Energy Trust (TSX:PWT.UN) with a land swap and $434 million in cash.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.9%. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2%, Germany’s DAX index was up 1.2%, and France’s CAC-40 was up 0.8%.