The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market appeared heading for a positive open as oil and gold prices made headway and Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO) delivered a solid earnings report.

The Canadian dollar was ahead 0.62 of a cent to US96.63¢, before Tuesday’s scheduled announcement on interest rates by the Bank of Canada.

The central bank is widely expected to keep its key overnight rate at 0.25%.

Analysts also say the Bank of Canada will likely repeat its stance that the target overnight rate can be expected to remain at its current level until the end of the second quarter — effectively this summer.

Meanwhile, Australia’s central bank continues to reduce stimulus measures as the nation’s economy rebounds. It increased a key interest rate to 4%.

U.S. futures indicated that New York markets were also in for a higher start to the trading day on upbeat economic reports in Asia and growing hopes European leaders will complete a bailout for debt-burdened Greece.

The Dow Jones industrial futures up 53 points to 10,438, the Nasdaq futures rose 10 points to 1,852.75 while the S&P 500 futures were up 6.3 points to 1,120.9.

The positive run of Canadian bank earnings continued Tuesday as Bank of Montreal reported a $657-million profit in its fiscal first quarter, up from $225 million a year ago. Its total revenue increased by 24% from a year earlier to $3.02 billion.

Provisions for credit losses were reduced by $95 million to $333 million.

BMO reports $657 million Q1 profit

CIBC (TSX:CM) and National Bank (TSX:NA) also delivered positive earnings results last week.

The April crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange climbed 60¢ to US$79.30 a barrel.

The April gold contract on the Nymex gained $5.30 to US$1,123.60 an ounce while May copper was unchanged at US$3.36 a pound.

Japan’s unemployment rate fell in January for the second straight month and household spending posted solid growth, providing the latest signal the world’s second-largest economy was healing.

Greece’s debt problems have added volatility to markets around the world for more than a month. Investors are worried that the country’s mounting debt problems will spread throughout Europe and upend a global recovery.

On Tuesday, a government official said that Greece will wait to see how markets react to tougher austerity measures demanded by the European Union before deciding on when to issue new state bonds.

In overseas trading, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average gained 0.5% but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.7%. Heavy selling in HSBC shares, down more than 7%, dragged on the broader market after the British-based bank’s results disappointed investors. China’s Shanghai index was down 0.5%.

London’s FTSE 100 index was ahead 0.93%, Frankfurt’s DAX rose 0.8% while the Paris CAC 40 was flat.

In other corporate news, CF Industries (NYSE:CF) is making another offer for fertilizer maker Terra Industries just six weeks after vowing to end its hostile pursuit. CF said Tuesday the offer has a total value of US$47.40 per share based on CF Industries closing stock price on Monday.

CF is itself resisting a takeover bid from Calgary-based Agrium Inc. (TSX:AGU).