##Wd#:? Wall Street futures are up, pointing to a solid start for stocks on Monday morning, it’s expected to be a quiet trading day ahead of tomorrow’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Analysts don’t expect a change in U.S. interest rates, but investors will be looking to the Fed’s monetary policy statement for indications of the strength of the U.S. economy.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 160.27 points, or 1.72%, to 9,487.8 overnight. Bargain-hunters were out in force picking up shares in smokestack industries.

In Hong Kong, the main Hang Seng Index rose 148.32 points, or 1.49%, to 10,093.54.

In Europe at midday, London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.53%. Frankfurt’s DAX has slipped 0.06%. Paris’s CAC 40 rose 0.59%.

Canadian investors got some good news about the housing market this morning. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported that new home construction rose in July with the rate of housing starts increasing to 223,500, from a revised 205,900 in June.

The rate of urban multiple starts, was up 9.5% to 90,800 units in July compared with 82,900 units in June. Starts were up in all regions except Ontario, which suffered a slight setback. Nationally, year-to-date actual urban multiple starts increased 14.2% compared with the same period in 2002.

On the earnings front, a few of the quarterly reports expected today include Cinram International and Ensign Resource Service Group.