North American stock markets are expected open in positive territory Monday after taking a beating last week.

Investors continue to be cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting on Tuesday when it will release its latest decision on interest rates. Although the Fed to leave its benchmark rate unchanged at 1%, analysts say the central bank will lay the groundwork in its accompanying policy statement for a rate hike in August.

Later this morning, investors and economists will review a report on March construction spending and the Institute for Supply Management’s index of April manufacturing activity. Economists expect a 0.6% rise in construction, after February’s 0.1% decline, and the ISM reading is forecast to be flat at 62.5.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada this morning.

In banking news, U.S. credit-card company MBNA Corp. is a front-runner to buy Internet bank and credit-card issuer Egg PLC for about £1.4 billion (US$2.5 billion).

In Europe, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 is down 0.2% and the Paris CAC 40 is off 0.3%.

The London market is closed for a bank holiday.

In Asia, markets were closed in Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand for public holidays.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index edged up 7.66 points, or 0.06%, to 11,950.62.

On Friday, the S&P/TSX composite index edged up 12.04 points, or 0.15%, at 8,243.97 on volume of 240 million shares worth $3.4 billion.

On Wall Street, the Nasdaq composite index fell to its biggest weekly drop in two years due to interest rate worries. The Nasdaq fell 38.63 points, or 1.97%, to 1,920.15.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 46.70 points, or 0.45%, to 10,225.57. The S&P 500 Index gave up 6.66 points, or 0.60%, dropping to 1,107.23.