Toronto's main stock market index .GSPTSE could open higher on Wednesday, buoyed by rising gold prices, as Canada's main index rebounds from a massive loss in the previous session. Toronto's main stock index sank on Tuesday to its lowest in seven weeks as resource issues slumped on falling oil and base metal prices, and as concerns grew over the global financial crisis. For more see [ID:nN17387291]. But bargain hunting and the firmer gold price could help boost the commodity-heavy market. Below is some of the news that may affect the market. GOLD HITS 7-MONTH HIGH AS HAVEN DEMAND SPURS ETF BUYING Gold firmed to a fresh seven-month high in Europe on Wednesday as investors spooked by the outlook for the financial system bought gold and bullion-backed exchange-traded funds as a safe store of value. [ID:nT175158] U.S. OIL FALLS TOWARDS $34, EYES CRUDE STOCK BUILD U.S. oil prices slid toward $34 a barrel on Wednesday, extending Tuesday's nearly 7 percent losses on renewed economic concerns, slumping demand and bloated inventories. [ID:nSP53368] ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS RESULTS Rogers Communications Inc (RCIb.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which owns Canada's biggest wireless carrier, swung to a quarterly loss on Wednesday as it took almost C$300 million in impairment losses on its conventional television business to reflect the impact of the weak economy. [ID:nN18418432] GM, CHRYSLER SEEK NEARLY $22 BLN MORE IN U.S. LOANS General Motors Corp (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Chrysler LLC requested nearly $22 billion in additional U.S. government loans and said they had reached tentative deals with the United Auto Workers union to reduce labor costs. [ID:nLH623622] [ID:nN17398597] OBAMA WANTS TO REOPEN NAFTA BUT KEEP TRADE FLOWING U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he still wants to reopen the North American Free Trade Agreement, despite a warning from Canada that this would be a mistake, but he said he did not want to end up curbing trade. [ID:nN17392641] BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA KEEN ON SIAM CITY STAKE-PAPER Canada's Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has expressed interest in buying a stake in Thailand's Siam City Bank (SCIB) SCIB.BK, the Nation newspaper reported on Wednesday, quoting an industry source. [ID:nBKK395239] CANADA DATA IN LINE WITH BOC FORECAST-CARNEY Canadian economic data so far has been consistent with the Bank of Canada's forecast of a sharp contraction in the first quarter on an annualized basis, Governor Mark Carney said on Tuesday. [ID:nN17391373] RESEARCH ROUNDUP Following is a summary of research actions on Canadian companies reported by Reuters. For more double-click [RCH/CA] * Raymond James cuts Riocan REIT (REI_u.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) price target to C$15; keeps outperform rating * Raymond James cuts Canfor Pulp Income Fund (CFX_u.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) price target to C$2.50 from C$3.75; Rating market perform * Canaccord Adams cuts Argosy Energy (GSY.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) price target to C$2.50 from C$4.00; Rating speculative buy. ($1=$1.26 Canadian) (Reporting by Scott Anderson; Editing by James Dalgleish)

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