North American stocks are expected to climb at the open Wednesday, with solid earnings from General Motors and Amazon.

GM reported a narrower third-quarter net loss, on an improvement in the company’s North America auto operations and benefits associated with taxes. Revenue rose 3.5% to US$48.82 billion.

Amazon.com’s third-quarter profit slid 37% as the company continued to plow money into technology and content initiatives aimed at fostering growth.

Investors are waiting for the U.S. Federal Reserve to announce its rate decision this afternoon. The Fed is widely expected to hold its key interest rate at 5.25%.

In other economic news, U.S. existing-home sales for September, are expected to have slumped to 6.23 million from 6.3 million.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

In other earnings news, EnCana Corp. said third-quarter profit soared to US$1.36 billion from a year-earlier US$266 million.

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. reported record third quarter net profits of US$145.2 million Wednesday, up from $130.3 million last year as the company benefited from strong fertilizer sales and improved markets.

Boeing’s net profit fell 31% in the third quarter. The company’s revenue rose 19% to US$14.74 billion.

Honda Motor posted a slight drop in net income for the July-September quarter.

Crude-oil futures edged 23 cents higher at US$59.58 a barrel ahead of weekly energy inventory data. Product stockpiles are expected to fall while crude stocks probably rose.

European indexes rose in early action.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 81.17 points, or 0.48%, to finish at 16,699.3 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 4.53 points, or 0.02%, to 18,157.94.

Toronto stocks moved up Tuesday, on the strength of the energy and information technology indices.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 65.64 points, or 0.54%, to 12,184.79.

Seven of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were up, with the energy sector spiking 1.27%.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index lifted 17.69 points, or 0.72%, to 2,478.96.

In New York, markets were mixed as investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve decision.

The Dow Jones industrial average lifted 10.97 points to 12,127.88, the Nasdaq composite index dipped 10.72 points to 2,344.84, and the S&P 500 inched up 0.36 of a point to 1,377.38.