Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market headed for a lower open Tuesday amid mixed earnings reports and weak commodity prices.

The Canadian dollar was down a quarter of a cent to 97.76 cents US as the American currency rebounded somewhat against most major currencies.

U.S. futures were slightly lower as investors digested some upbeat earnings and looked ahead to key economic data later in the morning.

The Dow Jones industrial futures declined 14 points to 11,101, the Nasdaq futures shed 4.5 points to 2,104 while the S&P 500 futures were off 1.8 points to 1,181.

Earnings were in focus Tuesday morning as wireless, cable and media company Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B) reported that quarterly profit fell 24% to $370 million. On an adjusted basis, net income was down 6% to $476 million, or 83 cents per share, beating analysts expectations of 79 cents per share. Revenue increased 3% to $3.1 billion, which was relatively in-line with analyst expectations of $3.19 billion.

Canadian National Railway (TSX:CNR) and resource giant Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) also report results Tuesday.

In the U.S., Ford Motor Co.’s third-quarter net income rose 68% to US$1.7 billion as it grabbed a bigger share of the U.S. auto market. Earnings came out to 43 cents a share, beating analyst estimates by five cents per share.

Revenues fell 3% to US$29 billion. But excluding revenue from Volvo, which was sold, revenues rose.

Chemical maker DuPont’s third-quarter net income fell 10% from a year ago to US$367 million as patents expired in its pharmaceuticals division, but results topped Wall Street’s expectations. The company also boosted its full-year adjusted earnings guidance above analysts’ views on Tuesday, citing its quarterly performance and expectations for continued demand in certain markets.

Traders will also take in the latest reading on American consumer confidence later in the morning. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index likely rose slightly this month, but still remains well below levels considered necessary for a healthy economy.

Stock markets advanced on Monday after a weekend meeting of G20 finance ministers ended with a pledge that member countries would avoid competitive devaluations of their currencies, which in turn could derail the global economic recovery.

However, with no concrete guidelines to go by, the U.S. dollar sold off sharply, which boosted the Canadian dollar and commodities.

On Tuesday, oil prices backed off slightly with the December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange down 19 cents to US$82.33 a barrel.

The December bullion contract on the Nymex fell $7.50 to US$1,331.40 an ounce while December copper was unchanged at US$3.86 a pound.

Overseas, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock average closed down 0.3%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.1% and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3%. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.2%.

London’s FTSE 100 index declined 0.84% amid data which showed that Britain’s economy grew by 0.8% in the third quarter, twice as fast as analysts’ expectations of 0.4%.

That follows an expansion of 1.2% in the second quarter, when restocking of inventories and a surge in construction after poor weather earlier drove the growth rate to a nine-year high.

Frankfurt’s DAX was down 0.3% while the Paris CAC 40 declined 0.75%.