Futures trading is up slightly, pointing to a positive open for equities markets Tuesday. Investors are expecting the U.S. Federal Reserve to stand pat on interest rates, while indicating a willingness to lower rate in the future to boost the languishing American economy.

The Fed’s rate announcement is due at 14:00 ET. Merrill Lynch expects growth of the American economy to remain low in the second quarter – somewhere around 1.8% — leading to an eventual lowering of rates.

The Canadian dollar surpassed the 71¢ mark this morning U.S. dollar continues to suffer weakness on the currency markets.

In Asia, stocks closed mostly higher in Tuesday trading. Tokyo’s Nikkei average gained 176.37 points, or 2.2%, to 8,083.56. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index slid 27.27 points to 8,889.22.

European trading is modestly positive this morning. London’s FTSE 100 index hit the 4,000 mark early in the afternoon. It added 46.3 points or 1.2% to 3,998.9. Frankfurt added 0.4%. Paris’s CAC-40 gained 0.8%. Meanwhile, Credit Suisse Group is confirming its first-quarter net profit rose 77% to $485.7 million, as earnings improved at Credit Suisse First Boston and its insurance unit.

There was some bad news released by Statistics Canada regarding building permits, but the overall picture remains positive. StatsCan says the value of building permits issued across Canada declined 4.4% in March to $3.6 billion, after falling 11.7% in February.

The main drop comes from non-residential permits. Municipalities issued $2.4 billion in residential permits in March, up 3.1% from February. The value of non-residential permits declined 15.9% to $1.3 billion, their lowest level in 11 months, mainly the result of a drop in institutional construction intentions.

StatsCan notes that January’s record level of $4.3 billion in building permits was more than enough to push construction intentions to the first-quarter record. The level for the first three months was up 6.6% from the first quarter of 2002 and 18.1% from the first quarter of 2001.

StatsCan is also reporting that the Help-wanted Index remained virtually unchanged in April, decreasing only 0.1% from March. Fluctuations were small in all provinces, rising or falling by less than 1%.