March 27, 2014 - 5:49 AM
TORONTO - The Toronto stock market looked ready to move slightly higher on Thursday as the number of people who applied for U.S. unemployment benefits dropped to a four-month low.
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.06 of a cent to 90.16.
The U.S. Labor Department reported that jobless claims fell 10,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 311,000, the lowest since late November and a hopeful sign that hiring could pick up.
Wall Street angled higher with S&P 500 futures up 0.1 per cent at 1,845, Dow futures rose 0.2 per cent to 16,204, while the Nasdaq gained 0.03 per cent to 3,574.
In commodities, the May crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange increased 81 cents to US$101.07 a barrel.
Gold prices lost ground with the February contract down $9.80 to US$1,293.60 an ounce. May copper rose 3.1 cents to US$3.00 a pound.
In corporate news, Taseko Mines Ltd. (TSX:TKO) is asking a Federal Court to reconsider its rejection of a proposed $1.5-billion gold and copper mine. The company filed a second application on Wednesday for judicial review of cabinet's latest decision rejecting the New Prosperity mine.
Sherritt International Corp. (TSX:S) is laying off 23 workers at its coal mines in southeastern Saskatchewan, according to the president of the United Mine Workers of America. The cuts will mainly affect equipment operators at the company’s mines in Estevan and Bienfait, which supply coal to SaskPower’s Boundary Dam and Shand thermal electric generating stations.
Overseas, Germany's DAX was up 0.3 per cent at 9,422.77. France's CAC 40 slipped 0.3 per cent to 4,374.14 and Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.6 per cent to 6,566.99.
Japan's Nikkei gained 1 per cent to 14,622.89 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.2 per cent to 21,834.45. China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.8 per cent to 2,046.59.
Australia's S&P/ASX lost 0.5 per cent at 5,350.10. Markets in Southeast Asia were little changed.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014