North American markets look set to open higher Monday after Toronto stocks reached an all-time high last week and the U.S. Federal Reserve meets to discuss interest rates.

The Fed will announce its rate decision Tuesday afternoon. While a rate increase to 4.75% is expected, markets will be paying as much attention to the statement accompanying the decision during the first meeting presided over by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The Canadian dollar opened at US85.34¢, down 0.24 of a cent.

Oil prices slipped Monday to under US$64 a barrel. Light, sweet crude for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell¢ to US$63.78 a barrel in electronic trading by midday in Europe.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 was up 0.85 points at 5,195.63, Germany’s DAX edged up 24.20 points to 5,971.31 and the London-based FTSE 100 was down 27.60 at 6,008.70.

In Japan, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 112.13 points, or 0.68%, to finish at 16,673.00 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 99.41 points, or 0.63%, to 15,815.87.

On Friday, the S&P/TSX composite index gained 93.23 points, or 0.78%, to 12,111.14, breaking the old record of 12,085.65 set March 16.

For the week, the benchmark index gained 0.9%.

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange index finished ahead 38.57, or 1.43%, to 2,739.56.

In New York, markets headed higher, but remained cautious ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting on interest rates.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 9.68 points to 11,279.97, the Nasdaq composite index was up 12.67 points at 2,312.82, the S&P 500 rose 1.28 points at 1,302.95.

On the week, the Dow Jones industrials ended flat, the Nasdaq gained 0.3% and the S&P lost 0.3%.