North American stocks are expected to trade higher Tuesday morning, ahead of U.S. data on new-home sales and consumer sentiment.

A report on new-home sales in the United States, due shortly after the open, is expected to show that their annual pace slowed in May from a big bounce in April. On Monday, a report showed a modest decline in May existing-home sales.

Investors are also awaiting the U.S. Conference Board’s June consumer-confidence index. Analysts are expecting the index will slip from May’s level.

In earnings news, U.S. home builder Lennar swung to a fiscal second-quarter loss as results were hurt by continued deterioration in the housing market and the company warned of further market weakness in the current quarter.

Retailing giant Target said June same-store sales may be at the low end of its planned 3% to 5% range.

Companies scheduled to release quarterly results Tuesday include Kroger, and after the close, Oracle and Nike.

In M&A news, Barclays’s efforts to buy ABN Amro Holding and fend off a counter-bid from a European bank consortium got a boost after a top Netherlands legal official said today the sale of its U.S. unit, LaSalle Bank, didn’t require a shareholder approval.

Crude-oil futures were down 52¢ to US$68.65 a barrel.

Overseas, the FTSE 100 declined 0.3% in London. The Nikkei 225 closed 0.1% lower in Tokyo.

The Canadian dollar opened at US93.55¢, up 0.14 of a cent.

Toronto stocks sank Monday, as losses in the resource sectors led a broad-based sell off in the market.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 144.17 points, or 1.03%, to 13,841.86. The index has lost 253.87 in the last two sessions.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 45.20 points, or 1.40%, to 3,185.89.

In New York, markets were jittery, though little changed, as investors continued to fret over the spectre of rising interest rates and the continued negative repercussions from the weakness of the sub-prime mortgage market.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 8.21 points , or 0.06%, to 13,352.05 after a day of volatile trading amid continued nervousness about the market fallout from two Bear Stearns hedge funds that were near collapse. Bear Stearns’ shares fell more than 3% yesterday to their lowest level in nearly a year.

The Nasdaq composite index gave up 11.88, or 0.46%, to 2,577.08

The S&P 500 dipped 4.82, or 0.32%, to 1,497.74.