Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market appeared set to open lower Thursday, with Greek debt problems again become a concern for global markets just as major Canadian companies begin releasing first-quarter financial results.

The financially stricken Greece is showing an even bigger budget deficit for 2009 than previously thought, according to figures released Thursday by the European Union’s statistics office.

Greece’s budget deficit in 2009 equalled 13.6% of economic output — up from the previous estimate of 12.9%.

Concerns about Greece’s debt problems has been one of the items to give investors cause for concern in recent months. Some investors are worried Greece and other European nation’s debt problems will slow down a global economic recovery.

Britain posted its largest annual budget deficit since the Second World War on Thursday as campaigning for a tight national election intensified.

The U.K. 2009-10 borrowing figures were slightly better than forecast by the government, but still revealed the extent of Britain’s economic troubles.

The Canadian dollar lost 0.12 cent to 99.96 cents US, slipping back under parity with the American greenback after gaining significant ground over its U.S. counterpart earlier this week.

The June crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 93 cents to US$82.75 a barrel in morning trading after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that the nation’s oil supply grew last week to 355.9 million barrels and gas supplies rose to 3.6 million barrels.

Meanwhile, the June bullion contract on the Nymex lost $8.30 to US$1,140.50 an ounce and the May copper contract slipped 5.6 cents to US$3.50 per pound.

In New York, stock futures also indicated a lower opening, partly due to weak earnings reports from eBay, Nokia and Qualcomm.

News that the U.S. Producer Price Index increased 0.7% in March, more than expected, and initial jobless claims last week were a higher-than-forecast 456,000 also served to push New York futures lower.

Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 41 points, or 0.4%, to 11,018. S&P 500 futures fell 6.60 points, or 0.6%, to 1,193.80, while Nasdaq futures fell 12.75 points, or 0.6%, to 2,012.75.

In economic news, Statistics Canada reported 698,800 people received regular Employment Insurance benefits in February, virtually unchanged from the previous month. The number of people receiving regular EI benefits has declined by 130,500 since the peak of 829,300 last June.

And in corporate news, Precision Drilling Trust (TSX:PD.UN) said its first-quarter profit improved 8% from a year ago to $62 million and oil well activity exceeded expectations. On the other hand Precision’s revenue fell to $373.1 million from $448.4 million in the first quarter of 2009 because prices were negotiated prior to the winter drilling season.

Celestica Inc.’s (TSX:CLS) first-quarter profit was up dramatically from a year ago, rising to US$25.9 million from $19.2 million, an increase of nearly 35%. The Toronto-based contract manufacturer makes products in factories around the world for brand-name companies.

And Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE) reported that an independent analysis by McDaniel & Associates confirms the oilsands company has between 3.9 billion and 7.3 billion barrels of bitumen reserves, before royalties.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 1.3%. Britain’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.8%, Germany’s DAX index fell 0.9%, and France’s CAC-40 fell 1%.