The financial sector will be the focus on Bay Street this morning as three major banks report their third quarter earnings.

BMO Financial has already weighed in this morning. It’s reporting net income of $504 million, up 46% from $346 million and earnings per share of $0.95, a
significant increase of 46%. BMO says its revenue growth of 9%, while expenses remain flat. Scotiabank and Royal Bank are next.

The major economic release of the day has come out of the U.S. Commerce Department, which is reporting that durable-goods orders rose for the second
straight month in July. This is a positive sign for recovery of the manufacturing sector. Orders for items meant to last three years or longer
rose 1% to $173.98 billion last month, following a 2.6% rise in June. Economists had expected an increase of 0.9%.

Investors will be looking to the August index on consumer confidence numbers, which are due out later this morning.

With little data and better corporate earnings in recent days, the profit-takers have been out in force, though, many marketwatchers are worried about pushing the envelope too far. This year, the S&P/TSX composite is up about 12%, the Nasdaq is up 32%, and the Dow is up 12%.

In Europe, markets are down at midday. Frankfurt’s DAX index is down 56.39 points, or 1.6%, to 3492.66, amid profit-taking in tech shares. The Paris
CAC-40 index is down lost 28.40 points, or 0.9%, to 3291.36, with tech shares leading the market lower. London’s exchange is still closed for a public holiday.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei Stock Average gained 55.93 points, or 0.54%, to 10,332.57. In Hong Kong, the key Hang Seng Seng Index fell 10.29 points, or 0.10%, to 10,753.93.