(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks could give back some recent gains on Thursday morning as commodities are moving lower and U.S. futures are pointing toward a weak open. The market closed at its best level of 2009 yesterday.

Crude oil has slipped 45 cents to $%79.13, gold is down $2 to $1,139.20 and copper is slightly lower at $3.13 per pound.

Manulife Financial Corp. (MFC.TO) said Wednesday it will raise C$2.5 billion through a common equity offering in a bought deal at C$19.00 per share.

Agrium (AGU.TO) announced that stockholders of CF Industries Holdings (CF) have tendered about 30 million shares, or 62% of the total outstanding CF shares, into Agrium's offer to buy the company for about US$5.1 billion.

Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. (BIM.TO) announced a bought deal of 20.83 million units at a price of $0.48 per unit for gross proceeds of about $10 million.

In economic news, Canada's leading index rose 0.7% in October. An increase of 0.8% was forecast for October, compared to a 1.1% increase in September.

Wholesale sales edged up 0.2% in September. A decline of 0.5% was expected for September, compared to a 1.4% drop in August.

On Wednesday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index has added 22.69 points or 0.19% to settle at 11,652.69.

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