Stock indices looked set to open higher on Tuesday, building on gains from the previous session, as news from Europe continued to dominate markets.
Among stocks to watch this morning, oil producer Nexen Inc said it would sell 40% stake in its northeast British Columbia assets for $700 million to a consortium led by Japan's Inpex Corp.
Oil and gas rival Parallel Energy Trust projected a 33-39% increase in production for 2012 and budgeted $16.5 million in capital expenditures for drilling and infrastructure.
The Canadian dollar rose to 97.18 U.S. cents.
Beyond our borders, stocks rose as euro-zone finance ministers met to discuss dramatic ways to save the debt-stricken region and protect the global banks that lend to it.
Dow futures were up 54 points, or 0.5%, at 11,552 before the New York Stock Exchange opened for business. S&P 500 futures rose 7.9 points, or 0.7%, to 1,199.
Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 0.4%, France's CAC 40 gained 0.8%, and Germany's DAX rose 0.7%
The 17 European finance ministers will be discussing radical ideas to save the euro-zone that would have been unthinkable until recently: countries ceding fiscal sovereignty to a central authority, and forming some kind of elite group of euro nations that would guarantee one another's loans.
At the top of Tuesday's agenda are measures to better integrate the euro-zone's disparate nations. France and Germany plan to make proposals on how the countries can monitor one another.
Investors were relieved after Italy successfully sold 7.5-billion euros in bonds, even though its cost of borrowing continued to soar. Europe’s third-largest economy paid record yields of nearly 8% to sell three-year paper and 10-year bonds at a euro lifetime high of 7.56%, up from 6.06% at the end of October.
Japan's Nikkei surged 2.3%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.2%
Gold steadied, after posting its second-largest one-day gain of the month the previous day. Spot gold was last quoted up 0.2% at $1,714.80 U.S. an ounce.
Crude was up 81 cents to $99.02 U.S. a barrel.
