TORONTO – The Toronto stock market was set for a slightly higher open amid earnings disappointments and an executive shakeup in the U.S. retail sector.

The Canadian dollar dropped 0.25 of a cent to 91.86 cents US.

U.S. futures signalled a generally flat open with the Dow Jones industrial futures up two points to 16,483, the Nasdaq futures rose 3.2 points to 3,616.5 and the S&P 500 futures added 0.2 of point to 1,882.5.

Target has fired the president of its troubled Canadian operations, Tony Fisher, and is replacing him with 15-year U.S. company veteran Mark Schindele, who was senior vice president of merchandising operations. Target is trying to fix its flailing operations in Canada, its first foray outside the U.S. It is also trying to recover from a massive data breach in the U.S. that has cost it customers’ trust.

Home Depot’s fiscal first-quarter net income climbed 12 per cent to US$1.38 billion, or $1 per share, compared with $1.23 billion, or 83 cents per share, a year earlier. However, earnings ex-items amounted to 96 cents per share, three cents short of estimates. Revenue for the Atlanta company rose three per cent to $19.69 billion, but missed estimates of $19.97 billion. The No. 1 home improvement retailer in the U.S. also raised its full-year earnings forecast, but its shares lost 1.4 per cent in pre-market trading.

Office-supplies company Staples posted an adjusted first-quarter profit of 18 cents a share, three cents below expectations. The company also expects to post charges of $105 million to $155 million, related to continuing restructuring during its second quarter and its shares retreated 10 per cent in pre-market trading.

The quarterly earnings season in Canada has pretty much wound up and now traders are waiting for results from the big Canadian banks this week and next.

Royal Bank (TSX:RY) and TD Bank (TSX:TD) kick off the stream of earnings on Thursday and analysts are expecting another solid if unspectacular quarter.

Analysts don’t believe the earnings will yield another leg up in stock prices for the big banks, all of which are very close to their 52-week highs. At the same time, the financial sector has been one of the weakest performers this year despite strong profits and is up just 1.7 per cent year to date.

On the commodity markets, the price of oil hovered above $102 a barrel Tuesday as the threat of further violence in Libya threw into question the country’s ability to ramp up its crude exports. The June contract in New York rose nine cents to US$102.70 a barrel.

Metals were lower with July copper off two cents to US$3.15 a pound while June bullion faded $2.70 to US$1,291.10 an ounce.

The expected tepid performance on stock markets Tuesday follows a week where North American markets stalled with both the TSX and New York losing slight ground for the week. Analysts point out that stocks are by and large fairly valued and investors are looking for earnings to move higher before taking shares higher.

Economic conditions are also a worry, particularly after figures from Europe last showed that growth in the eurozone economy is weaker than thought.

Still, last week’s slight dip on the TSX still left the major Canadian market up almost seven per cent for the year. That is close to where analysts thought the TSX would up end up for the whole year.