Wall Street futures are down as investors remain cautious ahead of job reports for both Canada and the U.S. coming on Friday.

There’s also some anticipation over tech bellwether Cisco Systems, which is expected to post a fiscal first-quarter profit of US15¢ a share. Positive news from this sector heavyweight could provide support for recent gains among tech shares.

In early news, today, the president of ATI Technologies said he is selling up to a million shares, worth nearly $20 million, while retaining more than a million shares. Nortel Networks says it is acquiring the remaining 28% of its Israeli subsidiary from joint-venture partner Koor Industries.

On the earnings front today Canadian Natural Resources said its third-quarter profit jumped 73% to $203 million.

Statistics Canada is reporting that foreign control in the Canadian economy — as measured by the share of assets for all corporations — declined for the second straight year in 2000, returning to levels recorded a decade earlier. Foreign-controlled firms held one-fifth of assets in Canada in 2000, virtually identical to the proportion in 1991. The rate had risen slightly during the late 1990s.

The value of assets held by Canadian-controlled enterprises increased at five times the pace of assets held by foreign-controlled firms in 2000 alone. Canadian-controlled corporations reported nearly $3,200 billion in assets, an 11% increase from 1999, while foreign-controlled assets stood at $810 billion, up only 2%.

For operating revenues, it was the eighth straight year of growth for Canadian-controlled corporations, and the ninth straight for foreign-held corporations. During the 1990s, foreign-controlled operating revenues more than doubled, while Canadian-controlled revenues rose at a somewhat slower pace (+79%).

Asian markets finished lower overnight. Tokyo’s Nikkei Stock Average finished with a loss of 10.43 points, or 0.1%, at 10,837.54.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index declined 1.8 points, or 0.01%, to 12,438.92.

In London, at midday, the FTSE is down 0.88% in early trading Wednesday, Frankfurt’s DAX has dropped 1.13%. Paris’s CAC 40 is down 0.86%.

On Tuesday, the Canadian dollar rose 0.24 of a cent to US75.26¢ on indications from Statistics Canada that the Canadian building sector is in for a busy winter.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 20.22 points to 7,863.69, supported by a 0.7% rise in the financial services sector. Royal Bank rose to an all-time high of $64.95, up 78 cents, while CIBC rose $1.30 to $60.75.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 19.63 points to 9,838.83. The Nasdaq composite slipped 9.74 points to 1,957.96. The S&P 500 slid 5.77 points lower at 1,053.25.