North American stock markets are poised to open lower on Tuesday as there is concern second-quarter earnings will fail to boost investors’ confidence that the rebound in equities will continue.

Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum company, will kick off the earnings season on Wednesday as the first company in the Dow Jones industrial average to report results.

Quarterly reports to come include Chevron Corp. and Astral Media Inc. on Thursday, while Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Cable Inc. release third-quarter results on Friday.

Overseas, Europe’s main stock markets rebounded slightly on Tuesday, with London supported by recovering mining shares as banks and auto shares fared well in Germany.

In late morning European trading, London’s FTSE 100 index was up 0.91% at 4,233.21 points. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 gained 0.58% to 4,678.90 points and the Paris CAC 40 increased 0.56% to 3,099.44.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei average fell 0.3% on Tuesday, with exporters hurt by a stronger yen. The benchmark Nikkei index dipped 33.08 points to 9,647.79, after moving in and out of positive territory earlier. Hong Kong shares also dropped, by a margin of 0.7%, or 117.14 points, to 17,862.27.

On Monday, the S&P/TSX composite index plummeted 255.67 points to 10,027.43.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 28.33 points, or 2.6%, to close at 1,064.63.

The Canadian dollar advanced by almost a fifth of a cent to close at US86.27¢.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average added 44.13 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 8,324.87.

The S&P 500 index edged up 2.3 points, or 0.3%, to close at 898.72.

The Nasdaq composite index slipped 9.12 points, or 0.5%, to end at 1,787.40.

IE