By James Langton

(December 18 – 09:00 ET) – Stocks are looking to open higher today on anticipation that the U.S. Federal Reserve Board will cut rates sooner rather than later.

Tech bellwethers are in up in pre-open trading on the renewed optimism, with Cisco and Intel leading the gainers.

The Fed meets tomorrow, and while most observers are just expecting a drop in the Fed’s bias to neutral, there is growing hope for a cut.

There are no economic releases in the United States today. In Canada, manufacturing shipments increased by 1.7% in October to $45.5 billion, led by a rebound in the electrical and electronic products and aircraft and parts industries. Economists had called for just a 0.6% gain following the 1% drop during the previous month.

The increase in shipments was spread out over 15 of the 22 major groups and seven provinces in October. However, the trend in shipments has been decelerating since the summer of 1999.

In Europe stocks are up on hopes the Fed will cut interest rates. The FTSE in London has gained 54 points to 6,230. In Paris, the CAC 40 is up 83 to 5,923. The German DAX has gained 91 points to 6,422.

In M&A news, VNU NV is buying ACNielsen Corp. for US$2.3 billion in cash to become the biggest information provider to advertisers and retailers.

JDS Uniphase Corp and SDL Inc say they expect to close their US$25 billion merger in January, later than expected, due to antitrust issues.

Overnight in Asia stocks were mixed. In Japan, the yen fell after the Bank of Japan hinted that Japan’s recovery is faltering. The bank cut its forecasts for production and exports. The Nikkei sagged in response, dropping 68 points to close at 14,484. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng meanwhile added 49 points to 15,024.

In other news, Royal Group Technologies Ltd. issued an earnings warning today for fiscal 2001 due to the slowing economy. Royal said earnings per share in the first-quarter of 2001 should fall between 23¢ and 28¢ compared with analyst estimates of 30¢. For 2001, earnings per share are now expected to come in between $1.75 and $1.90, compared with earlier guidance of $2.05 to $2.15.

Nortel Networks says it has signed agreements under which it will assist both Sierra Wireless and Xircomto independently develop the industry’s first 3G wireless modems based on the UMTS standard.

Bracknell Corp. is reporting net earnings in the quarter ended October 31 of 16¢ a share, up from 9¢ a share in the period last year.