North American markets are expected to open higher Tuesday, building on Monday’s gains, even as the price of oil moved higher.

Oil prices rose 52¢ to US$50.43 a barrel early Tuesday, climbing past Friday’s 21-year high of US$50.12 a barrel, as worries continued over supply and unrest in key producers.

Traders will be looking ahead to the Institute for Supply Management report on the U.S. service sector due at10:00 ET.. Economist expect the ISM index to have increased to a reading of 59.0 in September from 58.2 in August.

Asian stock markets closed mixed overnight. Tokyo’s Nikkei edged up 2.2 points or 0.02% to 11,281.83. The Nikkei has gained a total of 495.73 points, or 4.6%, in the past four trading days.

In Hong Kong, the key Hang Seng Index slipped 28.15 points or 0.21% to 13,331.10.


Toronto stocks continued their broad-based rally on Monday. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 65.82 points, or 0.75%, at 8,812.91. Volume was 259.4 million shares.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slid 7.25 points or 0.44% to 8,812.91.

In New York, the rally on Wall Street cooled Monday as oil prices pared some losses, though technology stocks were still the big gainers as investors grew upbeat about the outlook for economic and corporate-profit growth.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished up 23.89 points or 0.23% at 1,0216.54, and the S&P 500 added 3.67 points or 0.32% to 1,135.10.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 10.20 or 0.53% to 1,952.40, led higher by software shares that jumped after Siebel Systems said third-quarter revenue was going to top analysts’ forecasts.

In economic news, new orders at U.S. factories fell unexpectedly in August as demand for civilian aircraft weakened, government data showed on Monday. But excluding transportation equipment, the data showed some strength.