TORONTO - The Toronto stock market headed for a lower open Wednesday as weak corporate performances reminded traders of the fragile state of the economic recovery. The Canadian dollar fell 0.25 of a cent to 100.79 cents US amid falling prices for oil and copper. U.S. futures also backtracked with the Dow Jones industrial futures down 26 points to 13,173, the Nasdaq futures gave back eight points to 2,766 and the S&P 500 futures declined 3.9 points to 1,408.6. Resource stocks will likely lead the TSX lower after mining giant BHP Billiton reported that its annual profit plunged 34.8 per cent from a year ago to US$15.4 billion as a slowdown in global economic growth led to weaker prices for its key commodities. Revenue for the year was up 0.7 per cent to $72.2 billion. In addition, Chinese car maker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. said first-half profit was flat and trading conditions in the world’s biggest auto market in the second half of 2012 "are expected to be more challenging." Adding to signs of a global slowdown in growth, Japan posted a 517.4 billion yen (US$6.5 billion) trade deficit in July, compared with a surplus the year before, as exports fell eight per cent. Exports of autos and electronics by Asia’s second-biggest economy have been hurt by the strengthening yen as well as weak demand from Europe. Demand concerns pushed the October crude price on the New York Mercantile Exchange down 22 cents to US$96.62 a barrel. Copper gave back some of Tuesday's eight-cent runup, down a penny to US$3.44 a pound. December bullion slipped $1.40 to US$1,641.50 an ounce. The TSX edged up 41 points Tuesday on hopes that the European Central Bank will address the problem of high borrowing costs for heavily indebted countries such as Spain by buying government bonds. Europe’s financial crisis will remain a pressure point for investors. Greece’s prime minister will meet several European counterparts this week, starting Wednesday, as he seeks to get more time to enact painful reforms and spending cuts. Antonis Samaras said that he wants more time to carry out the measures, possibly setting the stage for confrontation with Germany, which has grown impatient with delays. Greek officials are preparing €11.5 billion in spending cuts the country needs to carry out in order to receive rescue loans protecting it from bankruptcy. Traders will also focus on the release mid-afternoon of minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's last interest rate meeting for any indications that the central bank may be thinking about further stimulus measures. European bourses were sharply lower as London's FTSE 100 index shed 1.15 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX was down 0.84 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 was down 0.72 per cent. Earlier, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index shed 0.3 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi dropped 0.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.1 per cent while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dipped 0.2 per cent. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.5 per cent while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index lost 0.7 per cent. In corporate news, a letter signed by dozens of independent merchants who operate 164 Rona stores across Canada have written to the head of Lowe’s Companies (NYSE:LOW), saying they are opposed to a takeover of Quebec-based Rona Inc. (TSX:RON). The letter, made public Wednesday, says the independents prefer Rona’s approach of combining a network of independents with more than 200 corporate stores. German carmaker Volkswagen AG says sales rose 11.9 per cent in July as demand in Asia and the United States outweighed slacker sales in crisis-hit western Europe. CAE (TSX:CAE) says it has won a series of military contracts valued at more than $55 million. They include a contract from Airbus Military to develop a full-flight simulator for the Royal Air Force of Oman and a contract to provide maintenance and support services for the Indian Air Force’s Hawk training devices.

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