U.S. stocks futures point to a third straight rising session Tuesday after U.S. lawmakers sent an auto-industry rescue plan to the White House, meanwhile Canadian investors will react to a bigger-than-expected rate cut by the Bank of Canada.

The Bank of Canada said it is lowering its target for the overnight rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to 1.5%.

Bay Street economists had expected the central bank reduce its key policy rate by half a percentage point. But some economists looked for a three-quarter-point cut.

Ahead of the cut, the Canadian dollar opened at US79.47¢, down 0.27 cent.

South of the border, Democratic congressional leaders sent the White House a US$15 billion auto sector rescue bill late Monday.

In Canadian business news, BCE Inc. has hired accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to help make its case to KPMG auditors who ruled it did not meet a key condition of its $52 billion deal to be acquired by a group led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, the company said Monday.

In earnings news, Major Drilling Group International Inc. reported an August-October profit of $29.3 million, up from $22.6 million a year ago, as revenue rose 22% to $191 million.

In other business news, Sony Corp. said it is cutting 8,000 jobs over the next two years, or 4% of its global workforce of 185,000.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.8% after Japan’s government said the economy shrank at an annualized rate of 1.8% in the July-September quarter, worse than the previously reported 0.4% pace.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index closed down 1.9% after a big surge on Monday.

The UK’s FTSE 100 was up 1.5% early in the afternoon in London, while the German DAX added 1.2% and the French CAC 40 was up 1.8%.

On Monday, strength in energy and commodities led hefty gains on the Toronto Stock Exchange, pulling the benchmark index up more than 5% after last week’s disappointing performance.

The S&P/TSX composite index rallied 450.09 points, or 5.5%, to end the day at 8,567.12. All 10 of the TSX main groups finished higher.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 13.3 points, or 1.9%, to finish at 697.61.

South of the border, stocks rallied on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s pledge to pump widespread new investment into infrastructure to revive the economy.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average finished at its highest point in a month. It ended at 8,934.18, up 298.72 points or 3.5%.

The S&P 500 index jumped 33.63 points, or 3.8%, to 909.7 and the Nasdaq composite gained 62.43 points, or 4.1%, to 1,571.74.

IE