TORONTO - The Toronto stock market looked set for a slightly higher open Tuesday amid higher commodity prices and positive Chinese economic data.

China’s factory production rose 10 per cent in November from a year earlier, slightly lower than analysts’ forecasts. But retail sales rose 13.7 per cent, which was stronger-than-expected.

There was also news of a shakeup at the top of clothing retailer Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU). Chip Wilson, the company’s founder and chairman, plans to resign in the wake of comments he made where he seemingly blamed customers’ weight for the company’s recent sheer pants problem.

At the same time, the board of Vancouver-based Lululemon has appointed Laurent Potdevin as the new CEO to succeed Christine Day, who was chief since 2008. She announced her intention to resign in June. The company's stock was up 1.5 per cent in pre-market trading in New York.

The Canadian dollar was off 0.01 of a cent at 94.02 cents US.

U.S. futures were listless amid uncertainty about what the Federal Reserve may do about its asset purchase program with the Dow Jones industrial futures off three points to 16,023, the Nasdaq futures were 1.3 points higher to 3,519.8 while the S&P 500 futures slipped 0.25 of a point to 1,808.75.

Investors have hoped that the Fed likely wouldn't start tapering its US$85 billion of bond purchases until well into 2014. But a slate of strong economic data last week on manufacturing, consumer confidence and employment raised speculation that the central bank could act a lot faster, maybe as early as next week when the Fed makes its next announcement on interest rates.

Commodity prices advanced with the January crude contract ahead $1.18 to US$98.48 a barrel.

March copper was up a penny to US$3.26 a pound while February bullion gained $13.20 to US$1,247.40.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed down 0.3 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.3 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite was nearly unchanged at 2,237.49. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.4 per cent.

European bourses were lower with London's FTSE 100 down 0.12 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX slipped 0.03 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 was off 0.18 per cent.

It's a light week for economic data. The major report of the week, U.S. retail sales for November, comes out on Thursday. Economists expect a rise of 0.6 per cent, largely driven by higher auto sales.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2013