North American markets may climb at the open as traders await news on interest rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve later in the day.

The Fed is widely expected to raise rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 1.75%. That would be the third increase since June.

Yesterday Bank of Canada governor David Dodge told a Calgary audience that current mild inflation won’t deter the central bank from boosting rates.

In this morning’s economic news, Canadian retail sales advanced for the third consecutive month in July, Statistics Canada said. July sales rose 0.5% to a record $28.9 billion, StatsCan said.

South of the border, U.S housing starts increased 0.6% in August, despite weaker sales and rough weather in the South. However, Commerce Department said the number of new building permits, an indicator of future activity, declined

In market news, the Ontario Securities Commission said it has issued allegations of market timing violations against four fund managers. The charges stem from the OSC’s ongoing probe of the mutual fund industry. The OSC did not release the names of the fund managers

Asian markets closed mixed overnight. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei dropped 1.62 points, or 0.01%, to 11,080.87 points. Japanese financial markets were closed Monday for a national holiday.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rose 83.15 points, or 0.63%, to 13,304.48.

Bay Street stocks limped higher Monday propped up by gains in energy issues, technology shares and mining stocks. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 9.93 points, or 0.1%, at 8,539.82, on a volume of 228 million shares.

Oil prices rose after Russia’s YUKOS suspended oil shipments to China. Crude for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose US76¢ to US$46.35 a barrel. As a result, the TSX energy group was up 1.5%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 4.82 points, or 0.3%, to close at 1,528.12.

On Wall Street, a combination of higher oil prices and lowered outlooks from companies including Colgate-Palmolive and. sent stocks sliding, with blue chips bearing the brunt of the selling.

At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 79.47 points, or 0.8%, at 10,204.89.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index slipped 2.02 points to close at 1,908.07. The broader S&P 500 fell 6.35 points, or 0.6%, at 1,122.20.