U.S. stock futures pointed to a slack opening on Wall Street Tuesday amid mixed earnings reports and ahead of the Bank of Canada’s decision on interest rates.

The Canadian dollar opened at US99.30¢, down 0.10 of a cent, as central bank prepared to release its interest-rate policy announcement. Economists widely expect the bank to trim its overnight rate as much as 50 basis points to 3%.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

South of the border, U.S. existing-home sales data for March are due out at 10:00 ET.

In today’s earnings news, EnCana Corp. reported an 81% decline in first-quarter net income to US$93 million after an unrealized mark-to-market hedging loss of $737 million after tax. EnCana said its January-March revenue increased 20% to $5.34 billion on higher production and gas prices, and operating profit for the quarter increased 23% to $1.05 billion.

Ivestors will also get to respond to corporate earnings from McDonald’s, AT&T, and, after the close, Yahoo.

After markets closed Monday, Texas Instruments Inc. reported results roughly in line with market expectations but warned of a fading market for the chips it makes for high-end mobile phones.

Oil prices rose Tuesday to all-time highs on concerns over supplies from some key producers. Light sweet crude for May delivery rose as high as $118.05 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. By midday in Europe, the contract was at $117.77, up 29¢ from Monday’s close of $117.48.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average closed down 1.1%, losing 148.73 points to 13,547.82, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.9%, adding 217.48 to 24,939.15.

The FTSE 100 edged up 3.5 points to 6,056.5 near midday in London, while Germany’s DAX added 0.2% and the Paris CAC-40 advanced 0.3%.

Royal Bank of Scotland PLC Tuesday said it took a further £5.9 billion in pretax write-downs and will take steps to shore up its balance sheet, asking shareholders to approve a £12 billion (US$23.78 billion) rights issue in addition to seeking disposals of noncore assets.

Energy stocks balanced out weakness in other sectors Monday and the benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange closed higher.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 84.10 points, or 0.59%, to 14,321.16, as eight of the 10 major TSX groups made gains.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 12.37 points, or 0.48%, at 2,559.82.

In New York, a weak earnings report from the Bank of America weighed on markets, and deteriorated already weak confidence in the banking sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 24.34 points, or 0.19%, to finish at 12,825.02.

The S&P 500 dropped 2.16 points, or 0.16%, to close at 1,388.17.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq, however, gained a modest 5.07 points, or 0.21%, to end the day at 2,408.04.