TORONTO - The Toronto stock market looks to be headed slightly higher on Tuesday morning when markets open, backed by stronger commodities and optimism surrounding a two-day policy meeting for the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The Canadian dollar fell 0.1 of a cent to 99.72 cents US.

Attention will be focused on the Fed meeting, which is expected to include action to kick-start the U.S. economy.

The anticipation comes as the European Central Bank meets on Thursday.

In commodities, the September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange lifted 44 cents to US$90.22 a barrel.

September copper moved up three cents to US$3.45 a pound while August gold rose $5.50 to US$1,625.20 an ounce.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial futures are up 23 points to 13,024 and the broader S&P futures are ahead 1.8 points to 1,382.30. Nasdaq futures gained 7.25 points at 2,642.75.

In corporate developments, Rona Inc. (TSX:RON) has rebuffed an unsolicited takeover from Lowe's Companies worth $1.76 billion. The Montreal-area company said the offer from its American rival (NYSE:LOW) wouldn't be in its shareholders' best interest, but that it would look at other options.

In earnings, Thomson Reuters (TSX:TRI) says its adjusted earnings rose to 54 cents per share, compared to 51 cents per share in the second quarter of 2011. Its diluted earnings per share, under IFRS, was $1.11 per share up from 67 cents per share in the second quarter of 2011. Overall revenue fell by four per cent to US$3.3 billion from $3.4 billion.

Inmet Mining (TSX:IMN) said higher copper sales volumes helped push its second quarter earnings up 74 per cent from profits reported a year earlier. The company reported net income of US$94.2 million or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended June 30, compared to $54.3 million or 83 cents per share for the same period a year earlier.

A federal arbitrator has sided with Air Canada (TSX:AC.B) in its labour dispute with the union representing its pilots. The five-year collective agreement will be effective until April 2016.

By late morning in Europe, Germany's DAX was up 0.6 per cent to 6,812 while France's CAC 40 was up 0.2 per cent at 3,328. The FTSE 100 index of leading British companies dipped 0.1 per cent to 5,686.

Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.7 per cent to close at 8,695.06 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.1 per cent to 19,796.81. South Korea's Kospi rose 2.1 per cent to 1,881.99 while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.6 per cent to 4,269.20.

China's Shanghai Composite dipped 0.3 per cent to finish at 2,103.63 as investors appeared unimpressed by a government announcement the day before that it will launch projects to attract private investments in energy, health and other industry sectors in an attempt to reverse an economic slump.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2012