Wall Street stock futures pointed higher Tuesday as traders awaited the start of third-quarter earnings season.

Aluminum giant Alcoa will be the first Dow component to post quarterly results Wednesday.

In Canadian earnings news, pharmacy chain Jean Coutu Group swung to a profit in the second quarter. Net income was $14.9 million, or 7¢ a share, compared with a loss of $39.1 million, or 16¢ a share a year ago. Revenues were up 7.3% compared with last year.

In today’s economic news, Statistics Canada reported the value of building permits soared to $5 billion in August, up 7.2% from July.

The end of the municipal employees strike in Toronto in July contributed to the increase. If Toronto is excluded, the total value of building permits rose by 0.8%, StatsCan said.

In commodities news, front-month crude-oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose US$1.10 to US$71.51 a barrel.

Gold futures rose by nearly US$10 an ounce, nearing US$1,030, as the U.S. dollar sank.

Asian stock markets ended mostly higher after Australia became the first of the major developed economies to raise interest rates. Australia’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.25%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 snapped a four-session losing streak, ending 0.4% higher at 4591.60. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.9% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 climb 0.2%.

In Europe, the UK’s FTSE 100 index was up 40.81 points, or 0.8%, at 5,065.14 while Germany’s DAX rose 40.88 points, or 0.7%, to 5,549.73. The CAC-40 in France was 19.94 points,or 0.5%, higher at 3,694.95.

On Monday, a broad-based rally carried the benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange higher, helping the index reverse some of the hefty losses incurred during last week’s trading.

The S&P/TSX composite index rallied 144.29 points, or 1.3%, to close at 11,102.62. All 10 main groups on the TSX finished with gains.

Junior stocks also advanced on Monday, boosting the S&P/TSX Venture composite index by 10.13 points, or 0.8%, to 1,254.25.

In New York, U.S. also rallied on Monday, putting to an end a four-day losing streak. The gains came after the Institute for Supply Management’s index of service industries beat expectations, rising to 50.9 in September from 48.4 in August.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 112.08 points, or 1.2%, to finish at 9,599.75.

The S&P 500 index rose 15.25 points, or 1.5%, to 1,040.46.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 20.04 points, or 1%, to 2,068.15.

IE