Canadian markets were up Tuesday morning as investors cheered long-awaited numbers from Nortel Networks Corp., while U.S. markets inched ahead as Wall Street awaited the outcome of U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee meeting.

At midday, the S&P/TSX was up 52.77 points or 0.57% at 9256.82 following Monday’s 62.27-point advance. The TSX Venture Exchange was up 0.63 points or 0.4% at 1796.42.

On Wall Street, the Dow industrials moved up 59.78 points or 0.57% at 10549.72 after gaining 62.74 points Monday. The tech-intensive Nasdaq added 8.1 points or 0.39% at 2070.51 after rising 26.58 points in the previous session while the S&P 500 index gained 6.85 points or 0.58% at 1188.12.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.12 of a cent at US80.69¢.

Nortel shares jumped 9¢ to $4.15 after the telecom equipment maker reported net earnings of US$59 million in the first quarter of 2004 and US$16 million in the second quarter. Almost four million shares had traded hands by noon ET.

On the TSX, technology shares were up 1.99%. Overall, the TSX was lead by the metals and mining group, which advanced 2.60%.

The metals and mining group advanced, with Falconbridge Ltd. up 82¢ to $31.25 after its annual profit soared to a record US$672 million, from US$191 million the year before, benefiting from strong global demand.

The price of light sweet crude oil for March delivery was down 40¢ to US$47.80 a barrel in New York, but the TSX energy sector was up 1.24%. Suncor Energy Ltd. was one of the big gainers, adding $1.12 to $40.83.

Only financials and gold shares were in the red, off 0.09% and 0.26%, respectively.

Among financial stocks, Bank of Nova Scotia was off 43¢ to $39.07. The RCMP raided the Scotiabank’s corporate headquarters in downtown Toronto Tuesday as part of a criminal investigation of Royal Group Technologies Ltd., a plastic products company. Shares in Royal Group fell 35¢ to $10.80.

Other active trading included shares of Bombardier, which were off 2¢ to $2.60.

In New York, the Dow’s advance was helped by a jump in shares of American Express Co. after the company said it will spin off its personal finance unit.

American Express, the global credit card and travel services company, climbed $3.06 to US$56.41. It said it will distribute all shares of American Express Financial Corp. to shareholders during the third quarter.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, rose $1.17 to US$52.77 a day after it posted the biggest quarterly profit ever for a U.S. company, driven by high crude oil and natural gas prices.

Tyco International Ltd. fell $1.45 to US$34.69 after the diversified manufacturer posted lower quarterly profit that matched Wall Street estimates.

In economic news, the Institute for Supply Management said its index of national manufacturing activity slipped to 56.4 in January from 57.3 in December, below forecasts for a dip to 57.0.

But analysts said investors were more interested in the Federal Open Market Committee’s interest rate decision expected on Wednesday. The committee is expected to announce a quarter-point hike on Wednesday at 2:15 p.m. ET when the policy-making Fed panel concludes its meeting. The market will also focus on the central bank’s outlook on the economy to help gauge the pace of any future rate hikes.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues dropped 3.19 points, or 0.03% to 11384.4.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lost 143.43 points, or 1.1% to end at 13,578.26.

London’s FTSE 100 index was up 29.4 points at 4,881.7.

Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was 12.56 points higher at 4,267.41 while the Paris CAC 40 advanced 10.48 points at 3,924.17.