Global indicators point to a weaker open for North American markets, as investors await an interest rate decision from the Bank of Canada. The central bank is expected to cut rates by at least 25 basis points.

Earlier today, the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted its benchmark lending rate by a 25 bps to 7.25%.

In today’s earnings news, Bank of Nova Scotia said financial market volatility contributed to an 18% drop in its first quarter profit. The bank made $835 million, or 82¢ a share.

Bank of Montreal said its first-quarter profit fell 27% to of $255 million. The quarter included $362 million in after-tax charges on trading losses, debt-market writedowns and an increase in the general allowance for credit losses.

South of the border, U.S. stock futures pointed to another lackluster session Tuesday, with Intel Corp.’s warning on memory-chip prices serving as a reminder of a sputtering global economy.

Intel cut its gross-margin outlook for the current quarter due to lower NAND flash-memory chip prices than expected.

In other earnings’s news Merrill Lynch cut its earnings estimates for Citigroup Inc., citing the possibility of US$15 billion in subprime and CDO-related write-downs in the first quarter.

In U.S. economic news, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, is due to deliver a speech at 9:00. ET on the subject of the subprime crisis and preventing foreclosures.

Crude-oil futures slipped 30¢ to US$102.14 a barrel and gold futures were flat at US$983.50 an ounce.

Overseas, the Nikkei 225 ended virtually flat while Sydney stocks fell after the rate increase. Stocks in Europe also dropped, with the German DAX 30 down 1%.

Toronto stocks finished lower on Monday as strength in resources was undercut by losses in the banking sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 38.31 points, or 0.28%, at 13,544.38.

The financials group fell 2.45% on worries about the credit crisis and the spectre of another round of big writeoffs linked to U.S. mortgages.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 12.5 points, or 0.45%, to end at 2,794.57.

In New York, markets closed little changed on Monday as surging commodity prices boosted shares of mining and energy companies, offsetting fears that a cash squeeze at a high-profile mortgage lender would mean more fallout from the housing slump.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 7.49 points, or 0.06%, to 12,258.90, while the S&P 500 edged up 0.71 of a point, or 0.05%, to 1,331.34.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 12.88 points, or 0.57%, at 2,258.60.