Tue April 29, 2003 09:11 AM ET (Adds quotes, details) By Elizabeth Lazarowitz

NEW YORK, April 29 (<a href=reuters.com>Reuters) - Stocks are poised to start Tuesday's session a touch higher as a fresh batch of earnings reports underpins investor hopes that companies have seen their worst, while Wall Street awaits key data on the U.S. consumer.

Expectation-beating first-quarter results from corporate America have fueled a sharp rally in the past seven weeks, and investors were sifting through more earnings from companies, including chemical maker DuPont Co. DD.N , drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. BMY.N and semiconductor manufacturer Altera Corp. ALTR.O .

"It's a follow-through from yesterday where psychology seemed to change," said James Volk, managing director of equity trading at D.A. Davidson & Co. "People were encouraged that the earnings season is just about behind us and there were no major downside surprises, as well as the perception that the economy really has, if not turned around, bottomed."

As Wall Street looks for signs that the economy is poised for a rebound, the market could take its early cues from the Conference Board's consumer confidence index.

Stocks roared higher on Monday, giving the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average .DJI its biggest gain in about a month, as investors celebrated solid results from McDonald's Corp. MCD.N and Procter & Gamble Co. PG.N

Standard & Poor's 500 stock index futures for June were up 3.30 points at 916.90, while Nasdaq futures for the same month were up 4.50 points at 1,112.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence survey, due at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT), could give investors a look at how the American consumer -- the linchpin of U.S. growth -- is holding up. Many economists expect that, with the resolution of major fighting in Iraq, consumer confidence got a big boost. The index is expected to read 69.8 in April, up from 62.5 in March.

Ahead of the open, the government reported U.S. employment costs in the first quarter of 2003 jumped by the highest margin in nearly 13 years as health insurance and pension plan costs shot higher.

The market is bracing for a barrage of economic data due later this week, including a closely watched gauge of the manufacturing sector and the government's monthly payrolls data.

"This will tell the market what the state of the economy is and it is probably not going to be as good news as earnings has been," said Bill Strazzullo, market strategist with State Street Corp. He said investors may be encouraged to lock in profits after the market's recent rally.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index .SPX , which is nearing three-month highs, is up more than 14 percent since it hit its 2003 lows on March 11.

Weaker oil prices, which soothed worries corporate profits could take a hit from higher energy costs, were also encouraging stock investors.

DuPont, the second-largest U.S. chemical company, on Tuesday returned to a first-quarter profit, as stronger sales offset surging energy and raw material costs, but it warned that second-quarter profits would miss Wall Street forecasts.

U.S. drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb reported its quarterly profit fell as competition from cheaper copycat medicines continued to hurt results.

Northrop Grumman Corp. NOC.N , the No. 3 U.S. defense contractor, on Tuesday posted higher quarterly earnings, excluding certain items, largely due to the new businesses recently acquired.

Halliburton Co. HAL.N , the world's No. 2 oilfield services company, on Tuesday said first-quarter earnings rose as North American drilling activity overcame international results hurt by war and political unrest in Venezuela, Nigeria and the Middle East.

Altera, a maker of programmable semiconductors, posted higher first-quarter profit than a year ago, beating Wall Street estimates on strong sales of new products and replenishing inventories that were depleted late last year.

In overseas trading, European stocks rose as corporate results from chemical giant BASF BASF.DE as well as telecom equipment titans Ericsson ERICb.ST and Alcatel CGEP.PA pleased investors.

The FTSE Eurotop 300 index .FTEU3 of pan-European blue chips rose 0.78 percent to 833, while the euro zone DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index .STOXX50E gained 0.8 percent to 2,363.

In Monday's U.S. session, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI finished up 165.26 points, or 1.99 percent, at 8,471.61, its biggest rally since an advance of 215 points, or 2.6 percent, on April 2. All 30 Dow components ended higher, pushing the blue-chip Dow average back up into the black for the year.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX rose 16.03 points, or 1.78 percent, to 914.84. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC gained 27.70 points, or 1.93 percent, to close at 1,462.24, based on the latest available figures.

(With additional reporting by Doris Frankel)

Washington, April 28 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Alejandro Dopazo, the Venezuelan Finance Ministry's director of public credit, speaks about the country's oil production, relationship with the U.S., debt repayments and outlook for economic recovery. He speaks at a Council of the Americas Crisis and conference.

05:05 Venezuela's oil production and debt obligation payments 01:43 So where does Venezuela stand today? 03:08 The relationship between Venezuela and the U.S. 02:40 "The year 2003 will be a very difficult year..." 01:40 Dopazo discusses political differences in Venezuela. 01:42 Questions: U.S. investment in Venezuela, exchange controls 02:23 Mercosur trade block, Venezuela's relationship with Brazil 03:10 Manufacturing jobs, foreign exchange control regime

Running time 21:31. Last Updated: April 28, 2003 18:11 EDT

Tue April 29, 2003 08:00 AM ET

NEW YORK (<a href=reuters.com>Reuters) - Halliburton Co. HAL.N , the world's No. 2 oilfield services company, on Tuesday said first-quarter earnings rose as North American drilling activity overcame international results hurt by war and political unrest in such key markets as Venezuela, Nigeria and the Middle East.

Houston-based Halliburton, which was hired in March by the Defense Department to control Iraqi well fires and repair the country's oil infrastructure, said its net income rose to $43 million, or 10 cents per share, from $22 million, or 5 cents per share, a year earlier.

In December, the company announced a $4 billion settlement package to more than 200,000 asbestos claims against it, the final details of which were still being negotiated. The settlement with plaintiffs who said they were harmed by asbestos products made by a Halliburton subsidiary is expected to take effect later this year.

Halliburton's stock closed up 11 cents at $21.31 per share Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.

<a href=www.vheadline.com>venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Tuesday, October 08, 2002 By: VHeadline.com Reporters

Teenage mothers to get a chance in life.

• The Caracas Lottery has donated 150 million bolivares to the Caracas Children’s Foundation for help kickstart a program for teenage mothers.

Foundation president and Metropolitan Mayor Alfredo Pena’s wife, Martha Penny says the money will be used to buy a building where the center can function.

"We will begin by catering to 30 girls … it’s a training and educational program, which allows the girls to bring in their children while they are studying."

• According to the Venezuelan Association of Alternative Sexual Education, 1 in 5 women give birth before they reach the age of 20.

Lottery representative Oscar Garcia says it’s a worthy cause since the project "gives teenage mothers a chance to get into the job market and on to higher studies."

Police murder squads top the bill in next HR group visit to the OAS.

The growth of extrajudicial police murder squads will be on the agenda of Venezuelan human rights groups when they visit the Inter American Human Rights Court on October 15. 

Cofavic, Caracas HR Vicariate and Ciudad Guayana Humanas Dignitas will present 100 murders attributed to police goon squads this year as evidence. 

• The Ombudsman’s Office claims 392 cases since 2000.

Cofavic executive director Liliana Ortega says police murder squads have been detected and corroborated in Portuguesa, Falcon, Yaracuy, Anzoategui and Bolivar States.

Tony Seskus <a href=www.nationalpost.com>Financial Post Tuesday, April 29, 2003

Canada faces mounting Kyoto costs and commitments unless Ottawa gets its "act together" before the next set of negotiations on the climate change accord, a policy think tank warned yesterday.

"The next round of commitments is going to be tougher," said Gilles Rheaume, vice-president of policy for the Conference Board of Canada. "If we're not prepared with a clear strategy, we could end up with a lot of problems."

The debate on Canada's decision in December to ratify the accord has faded since Ottawa made a number of concessions aiming to limit its impact during the implementation phase, which runs till 2012. But Mr. Rheaume said the federal government's short-term focus is leaving the country vulnerable to much tougher long-term commitments, which will be negotiated in 2005. He said Ottawa needs to start preparing a strategy for those negotiations now.

Many observers say Ottawa had a chance to develop a detailed strategy in the years that led up to the signing of the Accord last year.

Many felt that Ottawa signed Kyoto without a clear notion of how it would implement the complex deal and without a clear idea of how much it would cost.

"Let's not pull another Kyoto," Mr. Rheaume said at board conference in Calgary yesterday.

"If we're not prepared [for the negotiations], it's going to be tough because I can see by 2007-2008, we're going to have another agreement with stricter targets for a longer time period."

He said uncertainty around Canada's long-term Kyoto plans puts the future of major capital projects at risk.

"They have long lead times, they have long lives and if you don't know what will be Canada's longer-term strategy with respect to climate change, why would you want to put in a major investment that's going to last 25, 30, 50 years?" he said.

In fact, Petro-Canada is expected to address that issue today at its annual general meeting in Calgary when the company should provide some clarity on a $5.2-billion oilsands strategy, which has been clouded by Kyoto.

The company said in December it would be looking for longer-term certainty on Kyoto by the spring before deciding whether to spend $200-million for detailed engineering and other work on its Meadow Creek oilsands project and a refinery conversion.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers is still seeking further Kyoto certainty. Of note, it wants Ottawa to pledge not to increase Canada's climate change "burden" until other oil-rich countries, like Nigeria, Mexico and Venezuela, sign the deal, said Pierre Alvarez, CAPP's president.

Canada's current Kyoto commitment calls for the country to cut greenhouse gas emissions 6% below 1990 levels by 2012.

Prior to ratifying the agreement, critics warned the deal could cost industry billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of jobs and forever put Canada at a disadvantage to the United States, which won't sign Kyoto.

Ottawa tried to mitigate those concerns with promises to spread the burden across the country and sectors.

In the case of the oil and gas industry -- one of Kyoto's fiercest opponents -- the federal government decided to cap related costs during the implementation stage.

Ottawa has, however, offered few assurances beyond 2012.

Many energy companies believe those costs are unlikely to rise significantly after that time, but Mr. Rheaume said there are no guarantees about what Canada's commitments will look like in the long term.

He said that's why Canada needs a strategy to ensure it negotiates an agreement it can handle.

Canada should even consider negotiating as a block with either North America or the Americas, just as European countries successfully did.

tseskus@nationalpost.com