North American stocks are pointing to a lower open Wednesday, as traders await a Federal Reserve decision on interest rates, due this afternoon.

Though investors expect the Fed’s Open Market Committee to keep interest rates on hold at 5.25%, its policy statement will be closely scrutinized for clues about future moves.

In earnings news, Talisman Energy said its first-quarter profit soared 164% to $520 million, from a year-earlier $197 million, on asset sales gains. But cash flow was down 25% to just over $1 billion, including the impact of a cash tax charge of $77 million in relation to the sale of an indirect interest in the Syncrude oilsands project.

Tech bellwether Cisco Systems predicted slowing revenue growth. The networking gear producer reported a 34% profit rise and 21% revenue rise.

Toyota Motor posted a smaller-than-expected 8.9% increase in net profit for the January-March quarter.

U.S. luxury home builder Toll Brothers issued another profit warning, noting that tighter lending standards were affecting affordability at lower price points.

In Canadian economic news, Canadian direct investment abroad and foreign direct investment in Canada recorded the highest percentage increase in six years at the end of 2006. Statistics Canada said the big jumps were the result of a wave of acquisitions of Canadian firms by foreign investors and a weaker Canadian dollar compared to European currencies.

The Canadian dollar opened at US90.24¢, down 0.28 of a cent.

Crude-oil futures climbed 3¢ to US$62.29 a barrel before weekly inventory numbers, while gold futures rose US$1 to US$688.40 an ounce.

In overseas markets, the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.5% in Tokyo and the FTSE 100 rose 0.2% in London.

Toronto stocks pulled ahead on Tuesday as strength in financials and energy issues offset weakness in materials stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 49.85 points, or 0.4%, to end the day at 13,915.36, yet another record closing high.

The energy and financials sectors rose 0.64% and 0.46%, respectively, offsetting the resources-laden materials group, which slipped 0.57%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 18.95 points to 3,350.84.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks closed flat on as investors locked in profits after five straight sessions of gains for the Dow Jones industrial average.

The Dow dipped 3.90 points, or 0.03%, to end at 13,309.07, after earlier falling as much as 75 points. The S&P 500 slipped 1.76 points, or 0.12%, to finish at 1,507.72.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index bucked the downtrend edging up 0.80 of a point, or 0.03%, to close at 2,571.75.