Source: The Canadian Press

Stock markets appeared set to open higher Tuesday after a raft of positive earnings reports out of the U.S.

Investors have set aside, at least temporarily, concerns about a potential overhaul of financial regulation and civil fraud charges levied against Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Instead, traders are focusing on another batch of strong earnings reports from across a wide range of sectors.

IBM (NYSE:IBM), Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Swiss drug maker Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) all reported better-than-expected results since markets closed Monday.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 35 points, or 0.3%, to 11,079. S&P 500 index futures rose 5.50 points, or 0.5%, to 1,201.10, while Nasdaq futures rose eight points, or 0.4%, to 2,021.00.

On Monday, the Toronto Stock Market see-sawed to a higher close, edging up 32.31 points to 12,102.97 after being down for most of the day.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrials added 73.39 points to 11,092.05, the Nasdaq slipped 1.15 points to 2,480.11 and the S&P 500 edged up 5.39 points to 1,197.52.

Toronto’s financial sector managed to gain 0.85%, more than compensating for the losses seen last week after Goldman Sachs was charged for its dealings in the subprime mortgage market.

Those gains should continue today on the strength of Goldman’s strong first-quarter earnings. The investment banking giant said its profit almost doubled to US$3.3 billion as its trading business again surpassed the rest of the financial industry. However, news that Britain’s financial regulator is launching a full-blown investigation into Goldman Sachs International could partially offset this.

The bank’s stock rose more than 1.5% in pre-opening trading.

The May crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange added 88 cents to US$82.33 on stronger investor confidence, while the June bullion contract gained $6 to US$1,141.80.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.31 cent to 98.85 cents US, ahead of the Bank of Canada’s rate decision.

In corporate news, OMERS Private Equity says it’s acquiring an Indiana company that provides utility locating services in 20 U.S. states. The equity firm, which is part of the pension plan for Ontario’s local governments, is acquiring United States Infrastructure Corp. from funds affiliated with Kohlberg & Company, L.L.C. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

Provident Energy Trust (TSX:PVE.UN) and Midnight Oil Exploration Ltd. (TSX:MOX) said they plan to jointly form a new growth-oriented oil and gas company, while Provident’s infrastructure assets will continue to operate separately.

Overseas markets mostly rose following North American gains on Monday.

Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4%, Germany’s DAX index gained 0.5%, and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.4%. Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.1% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1%.