TSX May Struggle For Direction At Open - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are poised for a lackluster opening Thursday amid lack of cues from the commodities markets, with the US markets shut for Thanksgiving day holiday.

Asian stocks rose broadly overnight taking cues from gains on Wall Street after a slew of reports showed the world's largest economy is gaining traction despite the recent fortnight long government shutdown. European markets are trading higher with the formation of a new German grand coalition government and yesterday's batch of encouraging U.S. macroeconomic data underpinning sentiment.

First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, a gauge of consumer sentiment rose in November and the index of leading economic indicators unexpectedly rose for the four straight month in October, separate reports showed yesterday, partially offsetting Fed tapering concerns.

On Wednesday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index snapped its two-session losing streak to add 12.29 points or 0.09 percent to 13,362.06.

The price of crude oil edged down, with crude for January delivery easing $0.14 to $92.16 a barrel.

The price of gold was ticking higher, with gold for February delivery, the most actively traded contact adding $5.30 to $1,243.20 an ounce

In corporate news from Canada, DHX Media Ltd. (DHX.TO) announced that it would acquire Family, children's channel in Canada, as well as Disney XD, Disney Junior and Disney Junior from Bell Media for about C$170 million in cash.

Titanium Dioxide pigment producer Argex Titanium Inc. (RGX.TO) announced the appointment of Glen Kayll as its new CFO. Kayll replaces Mark Billings, who will take on the role of Senior Vice President of Corporate Development.

Savary Gold Corp. (SCA.V) announced the appointment of Don Dudek as President & CEO and a member of the board

In economic news from Canada, Statistics Canada said the nation's current account deficit, on a seasonally adjusted basis, decreased $0.5 billion to $15.5 billion in the third quarter, largely due to reduced deficits on trade in goods and services as well as on investment income flows.

In a separate report, the agency said the Industrial Product Price Index declined 0.3 percent in October, mainly because of lower prices for petroleum and coal products. Meanwhile, the Raw Materials Price Index fell 2.3 percent, impacted by mineral fuels.

From the euro zone, the number of unemployed persons in Germany increased unexpectedly in November, the latest figures from the Federal Labor Agency showed. The number of unemployed increased by 10,000 persons in November from a month earlier. Economists had forecast no change in the figure. The jobless rate remained unchanged at 6.9 percent in November, in line with expectations.

Meanwhile, euro zone economic confidence continued its upward trend in November, survey results from the European Commission showed. Driven by the improvement services and industry, the economic confidence index rose to 98.5 from 97.7 in the prior month. The reading was also above the consensus level of 98.