Wall Street futures are down this morning as investors continue to await an announcement on U.S. interest rates. The U.S. Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee begins its two-day meeting on monetary policy today, and will release its latest statement on interest rates Wednesday afternoon.

The combination of low inflation and sluggish jobs growth in the U.S. are expected to result unchanged rate of 1%.

Later this morning investors will get the latest numbers on U.S. consumer confidence

Here at home, Statistics Canada is reporting that motor vehicle sales pulled down retail sales in November. Retail sales fell 0.3% in November to $26.3 billion, after remaining essentially flat in October (+0.1%). The majority of retailers experienced sales increases in November. Excluding sales by motor and recreational vehicle dealers, the largest component of the automotive sector, retail sales advanced 0.6% in November.

Meanwhile, Canadian investors are waiting for earnings reports from some big players including Imperial Oil, CP Rail, TransCanada Corp., ATI and the TSX Group.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei average slipped 44.57 points, or 0.4%, to 10,928.03, after losing 0.9 per cent Monday, as traders cashed in on profits ahead of earnings reports this week.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng index rose 34.61 points, or 0.25%, to 13,761.88, its highest close since June 2001.

In Europe London’s FTSE 100 index is up 0.7%. Frankfurt’s DAX is up 1%, while Paris’s CAC40 has gained 1.3%.

On Monday, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended down slightly, dropping 9.81 points, or 0.11%, to 8,594.92.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 134.22 points to 10,702.51, its highest close since June 21, 2001. The S&P 500 added 13.82 points to 1,155.37, its highest close since March 19, 2002. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was up 29.96 points at 2,153.83, the highest closing level since June 29, 2002.