The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed towards a higher open Monday as oil prices were stable at their highest levels in a year and investors prepare for another wave of U.S. earnings reports.

U.S. futures pointed to a positive open after earnings reports from the likes of Goldman Sachs Group and Google Inc. sent markets higher last week. The Dow Jones industrial futures rose 40 points to 9,964, the Nasdaq futures climbed 10.5 points to 1,742 and the S&P 500 futures were ahead 4.9 points to 1,086.9.

The November crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange moved down 12¢ to US$78.41 a barrel.

The TSX could see support from the mining sector as prices moved higher amid positive news on Chinese economic growth. The December bullion contract on the Nymex gained US$2.50 to US$1,053.90 an ounce while December copper advanced 3¢ to US$2.88 a pound.

A day before the Bank of Canada makes its next announcement on interest rates, the Canadian dollar rose 0.35 to US96.67¢. The central bank is expected to leave its key rate unchanged at 0.25%.

The Toronto stock market gained 0.59% last week, led by a sharp rise in the energy sector as a late week report showed an unexpected drawdown of gasoline inventories.

The Dow Jones industrials gained 1.3% even as disappointing earnings from General Electric, Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Inc. chilled some of investors’ optimism last week. Their results showed that loan losses remain high meaning consumers and businesses are having trouble paying their bills.

On Monday, toy maker Hasbro Inc. reported higher third-quarter profits which met expectations but the company missed on revenue. Later in the day, Apple Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. are scheduled to release earnings.

European and Asian stocks rose Monday as investors looked ahead to U.S. corporate earnings reports with increased optimism over the strength of the economic recovery.

Germany’s DAX stock index rose 1.2%, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.64% and France’s CAC-40 gained 1.3%.

China’s Shanghai index rose 2.1% as a top economic official said the country would surpass its growth target of 8% this year.

“Achieving a growth rate of 8% for the year is basically no problem,” Xiong Bilin, a deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, told reporters in Beijing.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng closed up 1.2% while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 shed 0.2%.

In other corporate news, fertilizer company Agrium Inc. (TSX:AGU) is to sell half of its Carseland nitrogen facility to U.S.-based Terra Industries Inc. for US$250 million. The deal is conditional on the closing of Agrium’s proposed takeover of U.S. CF Industries Holdings Inc.

The Canadian company that invented the Visudyne treatment for age-related blindness will soon take over U.S. sales and marketing of its lead product from the Swiss pharmaceutical giant that has had the worldwide rights.

Vancouver-based QLT Inc. (TSX:QLT) and Novartis Pharma AG have reworked their agreement on Visudyne so that the Canadian company will start marketing and selling the product in the United States starting Jan. 1, 2010.

A Spanish labour representative says unions have rejected the latest offer from Canadian auto parts make Magna International (TSX:MG.A) concerning the future of an Opel plant targeted for job cuts and will vote on calling a strike. A consortium led by Magna International Inc. agreed in September to acquire Opel from General Motors. Magna has said it wants to lay off 1,350 workers and shift part of the factory’s production to Germany.