North American stocks appear poised for a second day of gains on Tuesday, boosted by upbeat results from General Motors and Sun Microsystems.

GM swung to a profit in the second quarter amid strength in its international operations and momentum in its core North America automotive unit.

Sun Microsystems swung to a quarterly profit of US$329 million, helped by large cuts in operating expenses.

Here at home, economic activity increased 0.3% in May, after remaining essentially unchanged in April, Statistics Canada reported.

Significant increases in retail and wholesale trade propelled the growth, the government agency said.

The report helped lift the the Canadian dollar, which opened at US94.39¢, up 0.79 of a cent.

South of the border, U.S. consumer spending edged up by just 0.1%, the Commerce Department reported today. That marked a pullback from May’s brisk 0.6% rise and was the smallest increase since last September. Incomes, the fuel for future spending, rose by 0.4% in June for the second month in a row.

Reports are also due later on the Chicago PMI for July and the U.S. Conference Board consumer confidence poll for July.

In today’s M&A news, Western Oil Sands has agreed to be taken over by Marathon Oil Corp. in a deal valued at $6.6 billion including $736.1 million of assumed debt.

In other earnings news, Sun Life Financial increased its quarterly dividend while reporting a 15% increase in second-quarter earnings to $590 million.

Crude-oil futures rose 62¢ to US$77.45 a barrel.

Overseas, the FTSE 100 climbed 1.7% in London. Many Asian stock markets rose, save the Nikkei 225, which dropped 0.2% in Tokyo.

On Monday, Toronto stocks rebounded from last week’s big selloff as firming metal prices lifted materials issues.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 116.19 points, or 0.8%, at 13,864.72 after dropping 5.7% last week.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index moved up 16.71 points to 3,179.96.

In New York U.S. stocks rebounded on Monday after a global equity sell-off last week, as optimism about earnings resurfaced and concern about credit conditions eased.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 92.84 points, or 0.70%, to end at 13,358.31. The S&P 500 Index rose 14.96 points, or 1.03%, to 1,473.91. The Nasdaq composite index climbed 21.04 points, or 0.82%, to 2,583.28.