U.S. stocks are expected to rebound at Tuesday’s open, with traders awaiting November factory orders and year-end auto-sales data.

Later this morning, the U.S. Commerce Department is due to release the factory-orders report at 10:00 ET. Economists expect a 0.9% increase in factory orders for November, on the heels of a 0.5% gain the previous month.

The Toronto Stock Exchange begins 2005 trading today. The S&P/TSX composite index was the best-performing major North American index in 2004.

The TSX benchmark index finished the year at 9,246.65, a rise of more than 1,000 points, or12.5%, from where it ended last year.

Canadian markets were closed for the New Year’s holiday, as were many overseas exchanges.

On Monday, mixed economic data sent U.S. markets sharply into the red.

At close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 53.58 points or 0.50% to 10,729.43 after rising as much as 84.38 points soon after the bell. The S&P 500 stock index fell 9.84 or 0.81% to 1,202.08 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 23.29 points or 0.64% to 2,152.15.


In New York, the session started well as the Dow opened up more than 80 points at one point in the morning, buoyed by falling oil prices and the bullish sales forecast from Wal-Mart.

A barrel of light crude was quoted at US$42, down US$1.45, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

That good news was followed by a report from Wal-Mart that sales open at least a year rose 3% for December, prompted by strong after-Christmas sales. The company’s previous forecasts were in the middle of a 1%-3% range. Wal-Mart gained 0.95% to $53.32.

But mid-morning, investors’ mood shifted as a mix of economic news was released.

A report from the U.S. Commerce Department said construction spending took an unexpected hit in November, falling 0.4% for the month. Investors had been expecting a rise of 0.4% after October’s 0.3% gain.

The Institute for Supply Management’s index on U.S. manufacturing activity rose to 58.6 in December, from 57.8 in the previous month and edging past Wall Street’s prediction of 58.5. The index measures the strength of manufacturing activity in the United States and analysts noted that some aspects of the report were disturbing.