TORONTO - Energy and mininig companies looked set to boost the Toronto stock market at the open Wednesday as a weaker U.S. dollar helps to lift commodity prices and investors take in positive earnings news from computer giant Dell Inc. The Canadian dollar was weaker against the greenback, down 0.22 to 102.65 cents US. U.S. markets headed for a higher open with the Dow Jones industrial futures up 30 points to 12,467, the Nasdaq futures gained 5.5 points to 2,343 and the S&P 500 futures dropped 3.3 points to 1,328.7. Crude oil prices advanced amid mixed signs about U.S. demand. The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that U.S. crude inventories rose 2.7 million barrels last week, more than the increase of 500,000 barrels predicted by analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. However, inventories of gasoline fell by 676,000 barrels last week and distillates dropped 2.8 million barrels, the API said. The June crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.20 to US$98.11 a barrel. Metals were also higher with the July copper contract on the Nymex up four cents to US$4.04 a pound. Precious metals also benefitted from a weaker U.S. currency and the June gold contract in New York climbed $11.80 to US$1,491.80 an ounce. Dell Inc. beat earnings estimates as its net income for the latest quarter nearly tripled to US$945 million, benefitting from lower computer component costs and growth in some of its more profitable product lines. Excluding one-time items, Dell earned 55 cents per share, beating estimates of 43 cents. Revenue rose just one per cent to US$15.02 billion from $14.9 billion last year, missing analyst estimates for US$15.4 billion. Dell shares jumped 5.4 per cent in pre-market open trading in New York. The Toronto stock market ended Tuesday’s session ahead 50 points, leaving the main index two points below where it started 2011 trading. The TSX has fallen for the last three weeks amid signs of slowing growth in the U.S., as well as worries that more will have to be done to rescue the Greek economy and stubbornly high inflation in China and India that has led their central banks to hike interest rates. The resource-heavy Toronto market has suffered from a sharp drop in commodity prices as investors feel that slowing economic conditions will impact demand. In other earnings news, International Forest Products Ltd., or Interfor (TSX:IFP.A), reported a net loss of $1.7 million or four-cents per share in the first quarter. U.S. retailer Target Corp. reported a 2.7 per cent increase in first-quarter net income to US$689 million or 99 cents a share as a strong credit card business offset weak sales. The results beat earnings estimates of 95 cents a share. Deere & Co. said that its fiscal second-quarter profit soared 65 per cent to US$904.3 million because of strong demand for its agricultural equipment, especially in the United States, Canada and Brazil where farmers are enjoying strong crop prices. Earnings amounted to US$2.12 a share, six cents better than expectations. Deere said its revenue grew 25 per cent to US$8.9 billion. Asian markets got a boost from signs that Japan’s post-tsunami recovery is quickening. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose one per cent, helped by reports of a recovery in factory production after massive disruptions following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that wiped out much of the country’s industrialized northeast. Bank of America Merrill Lynch said a survey of fund managers for May showed investors growing more confident in Japan’s ability to rebound from the disasters. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.6 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.5 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.2 per cent. Mainland China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7 per cent. European markets also advanced with London's FTSE 100 index ahead 0.61 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX was up 0.23 per cent while the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.5 per cent. Content Provided By Canadian Press.

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