Investors will be looking to corporate developments to maintain recent gains. Despite yesterday’s gains on the Dow Jones industrial average, Wall Street futures are sluggish Tuesday, pointing to a negative start to the day.

Among the corporate developments is a deal between the Bank of Nova Scotia and Dominican bank, Banco Intercontinental. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a “memorandum of understanding” has been reached which will enable Scotiabank to acquire 35 bank branches and various credit cards.

Meanwhile, gold company Placer Dome has announced a deal to acquire East African Gold Mines Ltd., an Australian public company, for US$255 million in cash.

In overseas trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei stock average rose 103.56 points, or 1.06%, at 9,898.72, its highest finish since late August of last year.

In London at midday, the FTSE 100 stock index is up 5.4 points, or 0.1%, to 4,080.2. Trading has been led higher by mutual-fund group Amvescap, which is up 3.4%, and insurer Prudential, up 2.6%. Paris’s CAC 40 index was up 9.81 points, or 0.3%, at 3,192. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index gained 17.34 points, or 0.5%, to 3,350.21.