U.S. stock futures pointed to a modest rebound Tuesday after yesterday’s selloff.

Merrill Lynch announced late Monday that it is selling over US$30 billion of mortgage assets and US$8.5 billion in stock to bolster its capital position.

Today’s U.S. economic calendar features the Case-Shiller home price index for May and the July consumer confidence index from the Conference Board. As well, U.S. Treasury Undersecretary David McCormick will be speaking on oil markets in Washington.

Here at home, there are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US97.62¢, off 0.13 cent from Monday.

In other market news, French communications gaint Alcatel-Lucent announced that both its chairman and CEO will quit after the company’s sixth quarterly loss.

In today’s earnings news, BP reporting a 28% profit rise for the second quarter.

Rogers Communications Inc. reported second-quarter net income of $301 million, up from a year-ago loss of $56 million, as operating revenue grew 11% to $2.8 billion.

Talisman Energy Inc. posted second-quarter net earnings of $426 million, off from a year-ago bottom line of $550 million which was boosted by asset sales.

CGI Group Inc. reported April-June earnings of $81.7 million, up 28% from a year ago, as revenue increased to $950.5 million from $914 million.

Crude-oil gave up early gains, with the front-month September contract trading $0.43 lower at US$124.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, Asian markets fell, tracking Wall Street’s overnight decline. European indexes traded mostly lower.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.5% to close at 13,159.45, and every other major Asian benchmark also closed with declines.

Hong Kong’s blue-chip Hang Sang index shed 1.9% to 22,258, in its fourth straight losing session.

The FTSE 100 index was up 0.5% early in the afternoon in London, but Germany’s DAX was down 0.9% and France’s CAC 40 lost 1.1%.

On Monday, Toronto stocks were dragged lower by financial shares as part of the continuing fallout from the credit crunch in the United States.

The S&P/TSX composite fell 74.85 points, or 0.56%, to 13,299.30. Six of the 10 main TSX groups finished lower.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped. 1.67 points, or 0.08% to 2,186.50.

In New York, U.S. stocks tumbled as fear of more credit and housing market turmoil battered financial shares.

The Dow Jones industrial average sank 239.61 points, or 2.11%, to 11,131.08. The S&P 500 dropped shed 23.39 points, or 1.86%, to 1,234.37. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 46.31 points, or 2%, to 2,264.22.