Stocks look set to rebound off Monday’s thin, weak markets. Traders are looking for bargains, and some corporate news is driving gains in pre-market trading.

Corning Inc. is up on news that 3M Co. is buying its Corning Precision Lens Inc. subsidiary for US$850 million in cash. Also, Motorola Inc. is higher after issuing some positive guidance on earnings for the quarter.

In Europe, stocks are mostly up after the European Central Bank’s chief indicated he may support future rate cuts. In corporate news, Vodafone Group plc cut its losses in the latest period, and UBS AG reported modestly higher third-quarter profits. The FTSE is up 45 points to 4,061. The CAC 40 is flat at 3,054. And, the DAX is 32 points higher at 3,074.

Overnight in Asia, stocks also had a mildly positive session. The Nikkei gained just four points to 8,465. The Hang Seng added 33 points to 9,614.

In other M&A news, CGI Group Inc. has signed a binding memorandum of understanding for the acquisition of the Underwriters Adjustment Bureau Ltd. for $53 million and the transaction is expected to be accretive to CGI’s fiscal 2003 earnings.

On the earnings front, Newmont Mining Corp. announced net income of $24 million for the third quarter of 2002, compared to net income of $18.8 million for the third quarter of 2001.

And, St. Lawrence Cement Group reported record net earnings of $36.7 million for the third quarter of 2002 compared to $32.4 million for the third quarter of 2001.