Global indicators were negative for North American stock markets early Tuesday after aluminum maker Alcoa missed sales forecasts.

The Bank of Canada is scheduled to make an interest rate announcement later this morning, with observers split on whether another quarter-point rate hike will occur.

The Canadian dollar opened at US88.78¢, down 0.1 of a cent.

In other economic news, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said the number of housing starts in Canada moved higher in June. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of starts grew 10,000 from May, to 232,200 units, CMHC said today.

In earnings news, Alcoa Inc. said late Monday its second-quarter profit ballooned 62% to US$744 million, or 85¢ per share, as higher aluminum prices and strong demand from the aerospace and construction industries boosted results. Sales, however, missed Wall Street’s consensus view, and shares of the Pittsburgh-based Dow component slid in late-session trading

In M&A news, Xstrata PLC has raised its bid for Falconbridge Ltd. to $59 per share in cash. That’s a total of $18.1 billion for the 80% of the Canadian-based miner not already owned by Xstrata, and it values the entire company at $22.5 billion.

Crude oil prices edged up Tuesday as the market awaited developments in talks between the European Union and Iran on its nuclear program. Light sweet crude oil for August delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose a penny to US$73.62 a barrel in electronic trading by midday in Europe.

Overseas, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 78.99 points, or 0.51%, to finish at 15,473.82 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 113.68 points, or 0.7%, to 16,490.13.

Toronto stocks ended modestly ahead Monday, after an up-and-down session, as investors remained somewhat uncertain over the direction the Bank of Canada will take.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 22.82 points, or 0.20%, to 11,654.73, ending slightly off a late-session high of 11,664.92, but well above an intra-day low of 11,604.74.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index dropped 24.12 points, or 0.90%, to 2,644.04.

In New York, markets were mixed as investors awaited the first announcements this week in a flood of corporate quarterly reports to come.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 12.88 points to 11,103.55, off a top of 11,174.47. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 13.13 points to 2,116.93, while the S&P 500 climbed 1.86 points to 1,267.34.