North American markets are likely to get off to a tentative start Tuesday, as investors sift through a bundle of profit news on the first truly heavy reporting day of second-quarter earnings season.

In this morning’s economic news, Statistics Canada said that Canada’s merchandise trade surplus declined to $5.2 billion in May. That’s down from $7 billion in April.

Strong machinery and equipment purchases propelled imports to a record high in May, StatsCan said. The rise in exports was more modest, but still marked the fourth consecutive monthly increase.

South of the border, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to US$45.95 billion in May, an improvement brought about as U.S. exports posted their best month on record. The decline was the first after five straight months of increases. Economists had forecast yet another record deficit of $49 billion.

The Commerce Department also revised the April trade deficit lower to $48.1 billion.

Exports of U.S. goods and services rose to a record $97.1 billion in May, representing a sizable 2.9% increase from April’s level.

In today’s earnings news, Merrill Lynch & Co.’s profit rose 10% in the second quarter, driven by growth in its global private client and investment managers divisions, but partially offset by its global markets and investment-banking unit.

Meanwhile, State Street Corp. reported a profit the for second quarter but but said it sees weaker revenue in the second half.

Asian stock markets closed mixed overnight. Tokyo’s 26.34 points to 11,608.62.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 112.68 points cent to 12,078.33.

On Monday, a downgrade of the computer chip industry by Merrill Lynch weighed on Toronto stocks. The S&P/TSX composite index fell 50.95 points to 8,422.23.

The TSX junior S&P/TSX Venture composite exchange also finished on a down note, dropping 5.93 points to 1,577.04.

In New York, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 9.41 points to 1,936.92. The Dow Jones industrials average, despite being down 40 points at midday, rebounded to close up 25 points to 10,238.22. The S&P 500 climbed 1.54 points to 1,114.35.