North American stocks are poised to rise at the open Tuesday ahead of a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and after strong earnings from Tyco International.

Bernanke will make a speech in Omaha, Neb., at 13:30 ET.

Here at home, construction intentions hit another record high in 2006, thanks mainly to soaring demand for residential and non-residential space in Western Canada, Statistics Canada reported today.

Municipalities issued a record $66.2 billion worth of building permits, up 9% from the previous high in 2005.

The Canadian dollar opened at US84.59¢, up 0.03 of a cent.

Light sweet crude for March delivery gained 64¢ to US$59.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe, getting a boost from the cold snap in eastern North America.

In earnings news, Tyco’s fiscal first-quarter earnings increased 43%, despite charges related to its separation into three businesses. Net revenue increased 7.6% to US$10.3 billion.

Toyota reported a 7.3% jump in quarterly profit on booming sales in North America and Europe that offset sluggish demand in Japan.

Husky Energy Inc. reported late Monday its profit fell to $542 million in the fourth quarter, down 19% from the same time a year earlier, as lower natural gas prices hit the top and bottom lines.

Overseas, key European indexes were up in early action.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index climbed 62.06 points, or 0.36%, to close at 17,406.86 points.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index jumped 199.58 points, or 1%, to 20,655.2.

On Monday, financial and energy shares boosted the Toronto stock market to a new record high close.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 55.12 points, or 0.42%, to 13,166.69, surpassing the previous record high close of 13,144.74 set on Thursday.

Overall, eight of the 10 TSX main groups were higher, with the heavyweight energy and financial services sectors providing most of the support, gaining 0.6% and 0.7%, respectively.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index was up 3.18 points, or 0.11%, to 2,974.8.

In New York, markets were weak. Last week’s strong showing prompted investors to take some profits while data showed a strengthening in the U.S. service sector and Wal-Mart provided positive January numbers.

The Dow Jones industrials rose 8.25 points, or 0.07%, to 12,661.74. The Nasdaq composite index eased 5.28 points, or 0.21%, to 2,470.6 while the S&P 500 dipped 1.4 points, or 0.10%, to 1,446.99.