Wall Street futures are pointing to a positive opening for stocks this morning. However, with government employees enjoying an extended Easter holiday, there will be no economic data to drive trading.

Canadian investors will hear about interest rates from the Bank of Canada tomorrow. A quarter-point rate cut is expected.

In Europe, traders are also off for the Easter holiday. In Asia, Hong Kong’s market was also closed. Tokyo’s Nikkei rose 145.19 points, or 1.22%, to 12,042.7.

When trading closed on Thursday of last week, markets finished mixed due to continued fighting in Iraq. Nevertheless, U.S. weekly jobless claims fell to 328,000, the lowest level in more than three years.

The energy sector led Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index up 25.89 points to 8,833.48 for a gain of about 34.73 points for the week. The TSX Venture Exchange was up 3.15 points to 1,884.82.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 38.12 points at 10,442.03, losing 28.56 points for the week. The Nasdaq composite index edged up 2.64 points to 2,052.88 for a loss of 4.29 points for the week. The S&P 500 index edged 1.21 points lower to 1,139.32.