North American stock markets headed for a higher open Tuesday prior to the release of key data on U.S. consumer confidence and home prices. The Canadian dollar was ahead 0.99 of a cent from Thursday's pre-holiday close to 96.24 cents US. The Dow Jones industrial futures gained 33 points to 10,520, the Nasdaq futures rose 4.75 points to 1,879.25 while the S&P 500 futures climbed 3.7 points to 1,126.8. The February crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped 12 cents to US$78.65 a barrel. The February bullion contract on the Nymex rose 80 cents to US$1,108.70 an ounce while March copper dipped two cents to US$3.32 a pound. Toronto traders are coming back to work following a four-day Christmas-Boxing Day break amid major dealmaking in the Canadian mining sector. Corriente Resources Inc. (TSX: CTQ) has agreed to a $679-million takeover by China-based Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Holdings Co. Ltd. and China Railway Construction Corp. Ltd. through their jointly owned subsidiary CRCC-Tongguan Investment Co. Ltd. Under the agreement, Tongling and CRCC will pay $8.60 per share in cash for all of Corriente's outstanding shares. Vancouver-based Corriente is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties, mainly in South America. Among its primary holdings are the Mirador and Panantza-San Carlos copper projects. In other corporate news, International Royalty Corp. (TSX: IRC) has recommended that shareholders reject an unsolicited takeover bid from Franco-Nevada Corp. (TSX: FNV). An offer from rival bidder Royal Gold Inc. (TSX: RGL), worth $749 million in cash and shares, has been found to be superior. And Minera Penmont Inc. has sweetened its bid for Canplats Resources Corp. (TSXV:CPQ), topping an offer from rival Goldcorp. Inc. (TSX: G) as the bidding war for the junior gold and silver miner continues. Canplats' board said it had received a "financially superior" bid from Penmont which offered total consideration of $4.80 per share in a deal valued at about $277 million. Penmont's earlier bid had been matched by Goldcorp on Christmas eve in a deal that valued Canplats at about $254 million. On the economic front, economists expect the U.S. Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index to rise to 52 in December from 49.5 in November. While still a long way from what is considered healthy – a reading above 100 signals strong growth – the index has risen significantly from a historic low of 25.3 in February. Meanwhile, the latest reading on home prices is expected to show a decline in October from year-ago levels, but likely an increase on a monthly basis. Government programs to boost home sales have helped prices improve since June. Economists predict the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major cities fell 7.2 per cent compared to October last year. London's FTSE 100 index was ahead 0.75 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX added 0.25 per cent while the Paris CAC 40 was up 0.56 per cent. In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average edged up 0.04 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.1 per cent.

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