Wall Street futures pointed to a higher open for stocks Wednesday as investors anticipate a small improvement in existing home sales in the United States.

The April report from the U.S. National Association of Realtors is due at 10:00 ET. An increase of 2% from the previous month to 4.66 million sales, annualized, is forecast.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar opened at US89.91¢, up 0.45 of a cent from Tuesday’s close.

In today’s earnings news Laurentian Bank of Canada said net income for the second quarter ended April 30 was $21.2 million, down from $25.1 million a year ago.

Earnings per slipped slipped to 76¢ during the quarter, down from 93¢ a share in the year-earlier period.

In other corporate news, General Motors said not enough of its bondholders had agreed to swap their debt for company stock, pushing the auto maker closer to a filing for bankruptcy protection.

In commodities news, light, sweet crude rose 58¢ to US$63.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rebounded 1.4% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index soared 5.3%.

In Europe, the UK’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2%, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.6%, and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.7%.

On Tuesday, the Toronto Stock Exchange surged sharply higher as news of an unexpected jump in U.S. consumer confidence sparked a wave of optimism among investors on both sides of the border.

The S&P/TSX composite index soared 216.40 points, or 2.2%, to close at 10,285.90.

Financial stocks led the gains, jumping 4.6% on Tuesday, as the first of the big banks reported financial results for the second quarter.

The Bank of Montreal reported net income of $358 million in its second fiscal quarter ended April 30th, down sharply from profits of $642 million a year earlier. Still, the bank’s results beat analyst expectations, sending its stock up $2.15, or 5.2%, to $43.71.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite edged up 0.73 points, or 0.1%, to close at 1,097.16.

The Canadian dollar added nearly half a cent to close at US89.46¢.

South of the border, the main stock market indexes also advanced sharply after the U.S. Conference Board reported a steeper than expected rise in the consumer confidence index in May, to 54.9. The index is now at its highest level since before the intensification of the credit crisis in September of last year.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 196.17 points, or 2.4%, to 8,473.49, snapping a four-day losing streak.

The S&P 500 index rose 23.33 points, or 2.6%, to end at 910.33.

The Nasdaq composite index rallied 58.42 points, or 3.5%, to 1,750.43.

IE