TORONTO - The Toronto stock market looked set for a slightly higher open Tuesday as China’s leadership indicated it would take measures to support the economy and commodity prices slipped.

Canadian National Railways (TSX:CNR) will be in focus after the railroad handed in earnings that beat expectations following the close.

CN earned $717 million or $1.69 per diluted share for the quarter ended June 30, up from $631 million or $1.44 per diluted share a year ago. Ex-items, CN earned $1.66 per share, up from $1.50 per share a year ago and four cents ahead of estimates. Revenue totalled $2.67 billion, up from $2.54 billion and slightly below estimates of $2.7 billion.

The Canadian dollar was ahead 0.1 of a cent to 96.77 cents US ahead of the release of May retail sales data.

Chinese media said Premier Li Keqiang had said that growth wouldn’t go below seven per cent. He also said that China’s economic growth needs to be kept above that minimum, according to Beijing News and reaffirmed 7.5 per cent as this year’s growth target.

The report cleared uncertainty about how much China’s government would let the economy slow as it tries to shift the basis of growth toward domestic consumption and away from reliance on exports and industrial investment.

U.S. futures were higher as traders took in a solid earnings report from chemical giant DuPont and looked ahead to earnings from Apple Inc. after the close.

The Dow Jones industrial futures gained 33 points to 15,524, the Nasdaq futures rose seven points to 3,054.5 and the S&P 500 futures climbed 2.25 points to 1,692.5.

DuPont’s quarterly net income totalled just over $1 billion, or $1.11 per share, compared to $1.16 billion, or $1.23 per share, for the same period last year. Revenue fell one per cent to $9.8 billion. Wall Street analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting income of $1.27 per share on revenue of $10.04 billion and its shares rose three per cent in pre-market trading in New York.

Meanwhile, analysts expect Apple to report another drop in earnings along with flat sales. The company's iPhone 5 is facing stronger competition from newer smartphones. Apple shares were up 0.5 per cent in pre-market trading in New York.

Commodities were lower with the September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange down 65 cents to US$106.29. Prices fell almost $1 Monday following the release of soft existing home sales data and fell further Tuesday morning ahead of the latest inventory data.

Wednesday's report on U.S. crude and fuel stockpiles from the Energy Information Administration will be watched for confirmation that the recent trend of falling inventories, which suggests stronger demand, is continuing.

Sharp drops in U.S. crude supplies for the past three weeks have helped propel oil to its highest in about 16 months.

September copper dipped one cent to US$3.17 a pound. August bullion lost $7.70 to US$1,328.3 after rising $43 Monday in its biggest one-day gain since June, 2012.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.8 per cent while Seoul’s Kospi rose 1.3 per cent after South Korea’s government said it will unveil a new set of measures to boost the stagnant real estate market including lower taxes on purchases of properties.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3 per cent.

European bourses were positive as London's FTSE 100 index and Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.34 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 ticked 0.24 per cent higher.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2013