(RTTNews) - Toronto stocks may extend gains at open Thursday amid firm commodities prices. However, worries over the euro zone debt situation and the new measures by China to cool off its red hot property market may weigh on trader sentiment.
Moreover, stocks may face resistance as traders might prefer to book profits at higher levels as the main index advanced near its multi-month high.
U.S. stock futures were pointing to a marginally higher open.
On Wednesday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index rose to its highest level in 2 years, adding 103.94 points or 0.85% to 12,382.82.
The price of crude oil moved up after yesterday's weekly report from the EIA revealed draw down of stocks piles, easing concerns over the demand from the U.S. Crude for November was up $1.02 to $78.88 a barrel.
The price of gold continued to advance to fresh record highs as traders bet that the Federal Reserve will soon opt for more stimulus packages to support the economic growth. Gold for December moved up $5.70 to $1,316.00 an ounce.
In corporate news from Canada, oil transporting company Enbridge Inc. (ENB.TO: News ) said that its wholly owned subsidiary, Enbridge Pipelines Inc., will expand the tankage of its mainline terminal at Edmonton, Alberta by one million barrels at about $260 million.
Gold and copper miner Northgate Minerals Corp.(NGX.TO) announced that it will increase the size of the convertible notes offering to US$150 million from $135 million, due to strong investor demand.
Heavy equipments dealer Rocky Mountain Dealerships (RME.TO) said it received necessary approvals to repurchase up to a maximum of 1.15 million common shares, about 10% of its public float, during the next 12 months.
Mineral explorer Fjordland Exploration (FEX.V) said it would buy up to a 70% interest in a large property portfolio prospective for copper-gold from Capstone Mining Corp.
Sportswear and shoe maker Zungui Haixi (ZUN.V) reported fourth quarter net income of $8.60 million, up 12% from the $7.60 million reported in the year ago quarter. In economic news, Statistics Canada said real gross domestic product eased 0.1% in July, the first monthly decline since August 2009, as manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, construction and forestry all posted decreases. Meanwhile, the mining sector recorded marginal growth.
From south of the border, the U.S. Labor Department said that initial jobless claims fell to 453,000 in the week ended September 25 from the previous week's revised figure of 469,000. Economists were expecting the claims to edge down to 457,000 from the 465,000 originally reported for the previous week.
Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department said that second quarter GDP increased at an annual rate of 1.7% compared to the 1.6% growth estimated last month. The upward revision came as a surprise to economists, who had expected GDP growth to remain unchanged at 1.6%.
Elsewhere, Moody's Investors Service downgraded Spanish debt rating by one notch, from Aaa to Aa1, with a stable outlook, because of concerns over Spain's weak growth prospects.
China has tightened limits on mortgage lending and plans to roll out a new tax on home sales.
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