Wall Street futures are pointing to a flat start to the trading day. In the U.S., investors are digesting a weak report on new home construction, which will not help to spark trading.

The Commerce Department is reporting that new housing starts fell more than expected in January as winter weather slowed building activity. Housing starts dropped 7.9%, says Commerce. The government also lowered its estimate for December to an increase of just 0.6%. Economists had expected housing starts to slip a more modest 4.3% in January.

Here at home, Statistics Canada is reporting that foreign investors continued to add significantly to their holdings of Canadian stocks in December but reduced their holdings of debt securities, both bonds and money market paper. Meanwhile, Canadian investors continued their purchases of foreign securities, but switched their acquisitions mainly to foreign bonds in December from equities the month before.

In Europe at midday, Frankfurt’s Xetra DAX Index is down 10.24 points, or 0.3%, to 4,106.10. In London, the FTSE100 Share Index is up 4.7 points, or 0.1%, to 4,466.20. In Paris, the CAC40 Index has gained 0.2% to 3,710 in thin volume.

In Asia, markets finished mixed with Tokyo’s Nikkei Average losing 24.32 points, or 0.23%, to 10,676.81. In Hong Kong, shares hit a 35-month high as investors snapped up issues of HSBC Holdings ahead of its 2003 earnings report on March 1. The Hang Seng Index gained 112.94 points, or 0.8%, to 13,928.38.

On Tuesday, the S&P/TSX composite index gained 19.59 points or 0.22% to 8,767.1; at midday it had been ahead by 27 points. The Dow Jones industrial average climbed up 87.03 points or 0.82% to 10,714.87. The S&P 500 Index jumped 11.18 points or 1% to 11,56.95. The Nasdaq composite index ended up 26.79 points or 1.3% to 2080.35.