TORONTO - The Toronto stock market headed for a positive open Tuesday while commodity prices slid amid data showing China's manufacturing sector barely in expansion mode in April.

Traders also took in a strong earnings reports from mining giant Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) and gas company EnCana (TSX:ECA).

The Canadian dollar was down 0.15 of a cent to 97.31 cents US.

U.S. futures were positive with the Dow industrial futures ahead 42 points to 14,541, the Nasdaq futures rose 11.25 points to 2,808.5 while the S&P 500 futures climbed 2.5 points to 1,558.4.

Prices for oil and copper slid as a preliminary survey by HSBC Corp. found that China’s manufacturing growth slowed in April, in a further sign that the economy is slowing.

HSBC’s monthly purchasing managers' index fell to a worse-than-expected 50.5 from March's 51.6. Anything below 50 would have signalled a contraction in activity.

"We’ll need to see some better numbers over the coming month if growth is going to improve at all from Q1," said BMO Capital Markets senior economist Benjamin Reitzes.

Data released last week showed the world's second-largest economy grew at a 7.7 per cent rate in the most recent quarter, crushing hopes for growth of around eight per cent.

That disappointing data and a downgrade of global economic growth by the International Monetary Fund pushed the TSX well into negative territory for the year, leaving the main index down about three per cent year to date.

The Chinese data out Tuesday raised fresh worries about demand and the June crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange declined 61 cents to US$88.58 a barrel.

May copper on the Nymex fell three cents to US$3.10 as Goldman Sachs on Monday cut its three-, six- and 12-month copper forecasts following a heavy selloff over the past two months.

June bullion was unchanged at US$1,421.20 an ounce.

Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B) posted an adjusted profit of $328 million, or 56 cents per share, in the first quarter, down from $544 million, or 93 cents per share in the same period last year. That beat analyst estimates of 37 cents a share.

Teck also said it achieved all-time record first quarter coal sales of 6.6 million tonnes despite relatively weak market conditions and repairs at Westshore terminals which continued into early February.

Encana reported a US$431-million net loss, or 59 cents per share, and $179 million or 24 cents per share of operating earnings in the three months ended March 31. The consensus estimate had been for nine cents per share of operating income, according to Thomson Reuters.

And in the tech sector, Celestica Inc. (TSX:CLS) reported it had 16 cents per share of adjusted earnings, or US$30 million, in the first quarter. That’s down from a year earlier and a penny short of analyst estimates but at the high end of the Toronto-based manufacturing company’s own guidance. Its revenue for the three months ended March 31 was US$1.37 billion, down about 19 per cent from the same time last year due to the loss of work for Research In Motion, now called BlackBerry (TSX:BB).

In the U.S., The DuPont Co. says its net income more than doubled in the first quarter on strong results by its agricultural unit. Du Pont reported net income of $3.35 billion or $3.58 per share for the quarter ended March 31. Operating earnings fell six per cent to $1.46 billion, or $1.56 per share, three cents better than forecast.

Revenue matched expectations, increasing two per cent to $10.4 billion.

European bourses advanced as London's FTSE 100 index gained 1.26 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX was ahead 1.5 per cent while the Paris CAC 40 was ahead 2.59 per cent.

Asian stocks closed lower in the wake of the disappointing Chinese manufacturing data. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.1 per cent, mainland China’s Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 2.6 per cent while the Shenzhen Composite Index plunged 2.7 per cent.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index slipped 0.3 per cent while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose one per cent.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2013