Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market appeared ready to bounce back modestly Monday morning after a triple-digit decline on Friday.

With no major economic data set to be released, investors will look to earnings reports from key U.S. companies.

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL), toy-maker Hasbro (NYSE:HAS) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) all beat analysts’ expectations based on earnings per share, which helped futures on the New York markets move higher.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones futures rose 0.3%. S&P 500 futures were up 0.3%, while Nasdaq futures lifted 0.5%.

The August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange edged up three cents to US$76.04 a barrel, while the August bullion contract added 10 cents to US$1,188.30 an ounce.

The loonie also edged higher, gaining 0.03 cent to 94.85 cents US.

This followed a loss of more than 2% on all the major New York indexes Friday and a drop of 172.12 points to 11,569.65 on the S&P/TSX composite index in Toronto after a much weaker-than-expected consumer confidence report south of the border. Some disappointing earnings from key U.S. companies, including Google Inc. (Nasdaq:GOOG), Citigroup (NYSE:C) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) also pushed markets lower.

In Canada, investors are awaiting the Bank of Canada’s interest rate decision on Tuesday. The central bank is expected to raise its key lending rate by a quarter percentage point to 0.75%, another indication that Canada’s economic recovery has so far been stronger and faster than in the United States.

Meanwhile, housing data out of the U.S. this week could continue to pressure markets. Housing starts, due Tuesday, are projected to drop 5% for June, while existing home sales, which will be reported Thursday, are expected to fall 10% for the same month.

In Canadian corporate news Monday, Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp. (TSX:OCX) and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bid 2.87 billion pounds (US$4.37 billion) for British engineering and manufacturing company Tomkins PLC.

Qatar Airways has ordered three business jets from Canadian manufacturer Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B) in a deal worth US$122 million at list prices. Qatar Airways said it is still talking to Bombardier about buying its CSeries commercial jet, but was not able to conclude a deal at the Farnborough air show.

CAE (TSX:CAE) said it has an agreement with Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp. to develop a training solution for the new Mitsubishi regional jet.

And Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX:IVN) said it has added three more lenders, including Export Development Canada, to a group arranging a debt financing package for a huge copper and gold project in Mongolia.

European markets all rose even after Moody’s Investors Service cut its rating on Ireland’s debt. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5%, Germany’s DAX index gained 0.5% and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.5%.

Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 2.9%.