Toronto stocks treaded water near the unchanged mark on Tuesday ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates. Shortly before midday, the S&P/TSX composite index was up 8.37 points, at 9,701.92.

Volume was 133 million shares.

The Fed is expected to hike interest rates by a quarter-point, but the market will be looking for clues to any further increases.

In Toronto, stocks were mixed as five of the 10 TSX groups posted gains, while five posted losses.

Tech issues were off 1.53%, weighed down mostly by a $3.19, or 3.21%, drop by Research In Motion to $96.11.

British mobile phone software maker, Symbian said on Tuesday that Microsoft licensed its e-mail technology to the company to battle RIM’s wireless BlackBerry device.

The industrials group gained 0.95%, helped by Canadian Pacific Railway, which rose 83¢, or 1.93%, to $43.78.

Energy shares were up 0.20% as OPEC discusses increasing its output for a second time, even as oil prices, up 32% since the end of 2004, continued to hold near record highs.

Oil prices traded down 26¢ to US$57.20 a barrel.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 0.82 points to 1,977.95.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday, helped by a rally in tobacco shares, and data for producer prices soothed inflation worry.

The core producer price index, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.1%, as expected, after a 0.8% gain a month earlier, the Labor Department said.

At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 26.51 points, or 0.25%, at 10,591.90 and the S&P 500 Index was up 3.71 points, or 0.31%, at 1,187.49. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was up 3.19 points, or 0.16%, at 2,010.70.