North American stocks are pointing to a strong start Wednesday after a surge in profit at Amazon.com, and more earnings results on tap.

Amazon.com said late Tuesday that its first-quarter profit more than doubled, besting analyst estimates, and the company also boosted its revenue outlook for the year.

In today’s earnings news, EnCana said its cash flow rose but net profit was cut by two-thirds to US$497 million after a $423-million unrealized after-tax loss on hedging.

PepsiCo posted a 16% rise in first-quarter net income, helped by the strength of its international and Frito Lay North America divisions. Revenue at the beverage giant and snack-food maker rose 9.4% to US$7.35 billion.

GlaxoSmithKline reported its quarterly net income declined 1.2%, slightly ahead of forecasts, despite being hit by the weaker dollar and competition from generics in the U.S.

In M&A news, a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland Group made an offer valued at about 76 billion euros (US$103.75 billion) for ABN Amro Holdings, higher than Barclays’s 64.9 billion euro offer.

On Monday, ABN agreed to sell LaSalle to Bank of America for US$21 billion. ABN on Wednesday said it is talking with U.S. and international banks about counteroffers for LaSalle.

In economic news, orders for U.S. durable goods increased by 3.4% in March to a seasonally adjusted US$214.85 billion, the U.S. Commerce Department said today. Durables, which are goods designed to last at least three years, rose 2.4% in February, revised from a previously estimated 1.7% increase.

A key barometer of business equipment spending — orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft — climbed by 4.7%, after decreasing 2.3% in February.

The Federal Reserve will release its Beige Book of anecdotes about the U.S. economy at 14:00 ET

There are no major economic reports from Statistics Canada today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US89.11¢, up 0.04 of a cent from Tuesday.

Oil prices rose Wednesday before the release of weekly U.S. petroleum supply data, which was expected to show that domestic crude stocks fell and gasoline inventories rose. Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 36¢ to US$64.94 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe.

Overseas, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index declined 215.61 points to 17,236.16.

Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 25.5 to 6,455, Germany’s DAX index was down 44.54 to 7,314.86, and France’s CAC-40 was up 50.46 to 5,936.49.

Toronto stocks fell Tuesday, as a drop in resource price weighed down the broader market and investors took in the Bank of Canada’s decision to keep its key overnight rate at the current level.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 38.64 points, or 0.28%, to 13,590.33.

The Bank of Canada kept the overnight rate at 4.25%, but said that inflation remained a concern for the Canadian economy.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 51.02 points, or 1.52%, to 3,300.81.

In New York, markets were mixed as investors took in positive corporate news but also negative economic news from the housing sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 34.54 points, or 0.27%, to 12,953.94, the Nasdaq composite index inched ahead 0.87, or 0.03%, to 2,524.54, and the S&P 500 slipped 0.52, or 0.04%, to 1,480.41.