Equities markets are expected to fall slightly on the open Wednesday despite positive earnings reports from some of Canada’s largest companies. European markets are up, but futures trading is down.

Economic news is taking centre stage today. In Canada the news is good, but south of the border, investors are waiting for congressional testimony on monetary policy from Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan. The Fed chief is expected to be singing a cautious song on keeping interest rates low. The Purchasing Management Association of Chicago will release it latest index of factory activity at 10:00 ET. That number is expected to drive equities activity.

Statistics Canada is reporting that the Canadian economy moved ahead 0.2% in February, on the heels of a 0.5% surge in January. This was the seventeenth consecutive month that gross domestic product increased. An upswing in residential construction and continued strength in retail trade have played a major role in the prolonged upward trend in the economy. GDP growth in February was somewhat constrained by a decrease in the production of motor vehicles and weaker mutual fund investment, which lowered the output of financial services.

The bad news from StatsCan, this morning, is that manufacturers’ prices weakened in March, falling 0.5% after two consecutive months of growth. On an annual basis, the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) rose 1.3%, the smallest increase since September 2002.

Meanwhile, BCE Inc. reported a 54% rise in first-quarter profits to $458 million, 50¢ a share, thanks to cost control and a one per cent increase in revenue, to $4.9 billion.

Torstar Corp., owner of Canada’s largest newspaper and the Harlequin romance-novel factory, earned $25.1 million in the quarter, up from $23.3 million a year ago. And Ballard Power Systems is reporting a better-than-expected first-quarter loss of US$22.5 million, an improvement from $50.7 million a year ago.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei average gained 223.54 points or 2.9% to 7,831.42. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 27 points to 8,717.22 despite optimism about SARS.

In Europe markets are positive at midday. The Frankfurt DAX is up 1.3%. The Paris CAC-40 is up 1.1%. London’s FTSE 100 has edged up 7.6 points to 3,935.5.