North American may rise at Tuesday’s open, as investors sift through reports on U.S. consumer prices and housing, while keeping an eye on oil prices.

Meanwhile in Toronto, a criminal investigation into Nortel Networks is likely to dampen buying interest in the tech bellwether. On Monday night, Nortel reported that the RCMP is opening a criminal investigation into the financial accounting at the firm.

In Tuesday’s economic news, U.S. consumer prices 0.1% in July, the first decline in eight months, as prices of gasoline and dairy products dropped. Housing starts surged 8.3% as mortgage rates dipped.

In this morning’s earnings news, Home Depot’s net rose 19% on broad-based sales growth. The home-improvement retailer lifted its full-year outlook.

Overnight in Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei rose 38.16 points, or 0.36%, to 10,725.97, on bargain hunting.

In Hong Kong, the main Hang Seng rose 36.37 points, or 0.29%, to 12,256.12..

A small dose of good news about oil prices together with a healthy dose of buying on weakness helped push North American markets into positive territory on Monday.

At close, Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite was up 68.86 points, or 0.84%, at 8,241.49, while the junior TSX Venture Exchange was almost unchanged — up 0.99 of a point or 0.07% to 1,481.

In New York, The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 129.2 points, or 1.31%, to 9,954.55. The Nasdaq gained 25.62 points, or 1.46%, at 1,782.84, while the S&P 500 rose 14.54 points, or 1.37%, to 1,079.34.

The price of a barrel of light crude for September delivery fell US53¢ to settle at US$46.05 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.