Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market appeared set to open lower Tuesday as lower commodity prices offset a couple of upbeat earnings reports from big Canadian companies.

The price of oil, an important driver of the commodity heavy TSX, dropped for the second day in a row on as the U.S. dollar strengthened and oil inventories remained high in the United States, suggesting consumption hasn’t caught up with a growing economy.

The June crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange lost 76 cents to US$83.44.

The June bullion contract also dropped, losing $3.70 to US$1,150.30, while the May copper contract fell 6.55 cents to US$3.46.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.26 cent to 99.60 cents US as the American greenback strengthened against other currencies.

Other factors that are expected to pressure the market today are Greece’s ongoing debt problems, attempts by China to cool down the country’s hot economy and a U.S. senate committee hearing on the extent to which Goldman Sachs benefited from the collapse of the housing market.

These will temper the better-than-expected earnings reported by Canadian National Railway Co. (TSX:CNR) after markets closed Monday, which kicked off the first heavy week of Canadian earnings season on a bright note.

CN earned a better-than-expected $511 million in its first quarter, due mainly to higher freight volumes, a higher fuel surcharge and increased freight rates, offset in part by a stronger Canadian dollar. The railway also forecast “solid double-digit growth” this year.

In New York, stock futures were lower across the board. Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell eight points, or 0.1%, to 11,143. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 4.00 points, or 0.3%, to 1,204.20, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 4.75 points, or 0.2%, to 2,042.50.

American investors will be looking for cues from the Federal Reserve, which begins a two-day, rate-setting meeting Tuesday and will make its rate announcement Wednesday. The Fed has said it plans to keep rates at historic lows for an extended time to help the recovery. However, a change in the language of the Fed’s statement could spook the markets that have used low rates during the recession to help push the market on a nearly non-stop climb since March of 2009.

Congress’ debate about overhauling financial regulations is also adding some volatility to the market. That debate hit a roadblock, however, after the Senate failed to pass a vote that would allow a floor debate on the issue to begin.

Two economic reports due out later in the morning could also affect trading. Investors will get reports on home prices and consumer confidence.

Meanwhile, Canadian consumer confidence took a dive in April, according to the latest monthly report by a prominent economic forecaster.

The Conference Board of Canada says its index of consumer confidence dropped to 84.8 in April. That wiped out a gain recorded in March and continued a pattern of volatile swings that the Ottawa-based group has noted since the beginning of the year.

European shares fell as concerns resurfaced about Greece’s ability to tap a bailout package to help relieve its debt troubles. Greece has to make a new round of payments on debt on May 19 and there are now questions about whether the country will get access to bailout money before then.

Most Asian markets also fell as Chinese regulators are again preparing to try and cool down the country’s robust economic growth. The government has been trying to slow down a hot real estate market to avoid speculative bubbles.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.4%, but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.5%. In Britain, the FTSE fell 1.3%, Germany’s DAX lost 0.7% and France’s CAC 40 fell 1.7%.