The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market was likely in for a negative open amid lower commodity prices and an earnings report from Bank of Nova Scotia that beat expectations.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.23 of a cent to 97.08 cents US.

U.S. futures pointed to a lower open with investors feeling cautious a year after indexes hit bottom. The Dow Jones industrial futures declined 21 points to 10,517, the Nasdaq futures were down 4.25 points to 1,884 and the S&P 500 futures slipped 3.4 points to 1,133.7.

Crude prices fell back after rising about 15% over the last month on hopes for rising demand. The April oil contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down US$1.29 to US$80.58 a barrel.

A stronger U.S. dollar helped send bullion lower as the April gold contract on the Nymex lost US$6.30 to US$1,117.70 an ounce. May copper slipped three cents to US$3.38 a pound.

Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS) turned in a first quarter profit of $988-million, up 17% from a year earlier. Scotiabank said that was the equivalent of 91 cents per diluted share or 93 cents on a cash basis, five cents a share better than analysts had forecast. Revenue came in at $3.9 billion in revenue, which also beat expectations. Provisions for credit losses were $371 million, down from $420 million in the prior quarter.

Scotiabank was the last of the big banks to report quarterly earnings. All save Royal Bank (TSX:RY) handed in earnings that beat analyst expectations.

Stocks have surged over the last 12 months since hitting multi-year lows in the depths of the financial crisis sparked by the collapse of the U.S. housing sector. The S&P/TSX composite index has jumped 58% from March 9, 2009 while the Dow Jones industrial average is up 61.2%.

For much of last year, evidence of so-called “green shoots” and signs of a tentative recovery was enough to drive markets higher.

But the markets have found it harder to gain traction since the first of this year as investor expectations have grown, while stocks are seen as more fairly valued now. That means it will take more than just an occasional upbeat economic report or earnings release to send stocks up.

In other corporate news, Major Drilling Group International Inc. (TSX: MDI) narrowed its fiscal 2010 third-quarter loss to $4.5 million or 19 cents a share from $5.1 million or 21 cents in the comparable 2009 period. Revenue for the three months ended Jan. 31 was $72.5 million, down from $87.4 million the previous year.

Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) has cancelled a plan to buy back up to US$550 million of its outstanding debt securities and issue new notes. The transportation giant said that “current market conditions are such that the offering is unattractive and unsatisfactory to Bombardier at this time.”

In Asia, markets were cautious ahead of key reports on the region’s two biggest economies, China and Japan, that are due Wednesday. The strength of Chinese trade data could give investors a better sense of when and how Beijing will wean the country off its economy-boosting measures. A report on Japanese machinery orders, a key gauge of company spending, could provide more insight into the state of global trade and the world’s second-largest economy.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock average fell 0.2%.

London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.57% with financial shares somewhat weaker after Moody’s credit ratings agency said the withdrawal of stimulus measures would leave some banks in Britain fragile.

Frankfurt’s DAX declined 0.43% while the Paris CAC 40 was off 0.42%.