No one is quite sure what to expect in terms of trading today on the anniversary of the attacks of last September 11. U.S. markets will be closed until 11:00 ET, although Canadian markets are opening at 9:30 ET as usual. Trading is expected to be light, and traders may be nervous about the possibility of further attacks today after the U.S. attorney general raised the warning level.

In Canada, industrial capacity utilization rates were reported at 83.2%, up from 81.9% in the first quarter. Industries raised their rate of capacity use for the second straight quarter from April to June on the heels of strong increases in manufacturing and forestry and logging. The two increases in the first half of the year followed a string of five consecutive quarterly declines. The rate of capacity use has now recovered from a low of 80.5% in the fourth quarter of 2001 and is halfway to 86.2%, the last peak reached in the third quarter of 2000.

Also, the New Housing Price Index rose 0.2% in July from June. Following a period of fairly sharp increases starting in February, the price of new homes increased more moderately in June and July. This index of contractors’ selling prices was up 4.0% from July 2001.

Stocks are up so far in Europe today. Techs are leading the way higher after Bouygues SA reported that its cellphone business recorded a profit for the first time. Also, analysts increased their profit forecasts for Nokia Oyj. The FTSE is up 50 points to 4,225. The CAC 40 gained 54 points to 3,353. And, the DAX is up 74 points to 3,569.

Overnight in Asia, markets were mixed with the Nikkei gaining 91 points to 9,400. Meanwhile, the Hang Seng dropped three points to 9,882.

In M&A news, it is being reported that Vivendi Universal SA has been offered as much as US$3.4 billion for its publishing unit from a syndicate of buyout firms.

In other news, Groupe LaPerriere & Verreault announced that a normal course issuer bid for 10% of its shares.