North American stocks look poised to open higher Tuesday as U.S. markets resume trading after the Memorial Day weekend.

The Bank of Canada is scheduled to make an announcement on interest rates at 9:00 ET, with most analysts expecting the central bank to stand pat.

The Canadian dollar opened at US92.34¢, down 0.23 of a cent.

In today’s M&A news, a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland said it will launch a hostile bid of 71.1 billion euros (US$95.5 billion) for ABN Amro, topping a friendly offer from Barclays and pressing Bank of America for control of the Dutch bank’s U.S. arm.

In today’s economic news, Canadians took more trips abroad than ever before in 2006, spent more money than they ever have while away, and made Mexico their favourite overseas destination, Statistics Canada said.

In total, Canadians took an estimated 22.7 million overnight trips in 2006, spending a record $20.1 billion in the process. In addition, Mexico surpassed the United Kingdom as the most visited country by Canadians, following the United States.

However, Canada’s international travel deficit narrowed during the first three months of 2007, as a result of the first decline in spending in a year and a half by Canadians travelling abroad, StatsCan said.

In earnings news, Bombardier’s first-quarter profit more than tripled to US$79 million, from US$24 million a year earlier.

European indexes were mixed in early action.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index rose 84.97 points, or 0.48%, to finish at 17,672.56 points.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 60.17 points, or 0.29%, to 20,469.59.

Toronto stocks moved higher Monday, as strength in the overall broader market easily overshadowed modest weakness in the energy sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 49.67 points, or 0.35%, to 14,073.74.


The S&P TSX Venture composite index fell 16.07, or 0.50%, to 3,226.13.

In the U.S., markets were closed in observance of Memorial Day.