Stocks are expected to open flat this morning despite yesterday’s 100 points plus rally. Wall Street futures are down ahead of the open.

Part of the reason for this is that the U.S. Senate majority leader’s office has faced a second bio-terror attack — the second in three years. A white powder was delivered through the mail, laced with poisonous ricin, say government officials.

Meanwhile, there is no economic data due out in Canada or the U.S. Investors are expected to be watching for Cisco Systems Inc.’s quarterly report, after the market closes.

Canadian companies set to release results today include Gildan Activewear Inc., Husky Energy Inc., Inco Ltd. and Teck-Cominco Ltd.

The Canadian dollar has recovered. It’s above US75¢ again, after closing under that level yesterday for the first time since early November. The loonie is trading at US75.11¢, up 0.34¢, as the U.S. dollar retreat on worries about terrorism.

Most Asian stock markets closed lower, due to bargain-hunting and worries about avian influenza. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index climbed 90.03 points or 0.7% to 13,090.01. In Tokyo, the Nikkei average fell 134.81 points or 1.25% to 10,641.92.

In Europe at midday, London’s FTSE 100 is down 0.3%. The FTSE has fallen for seven of the past nine sessions. Paris’s CAC40 is 0.4% lower. Frankfurt’s DAX is down 0.6%.

On Monday, the Toronto S&P/TSX composite index jumped 118.50 points, or 1.39%, to 8,639.89, marking its best closing since February 2001. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.1% to 10,499.18 points. The Nasdaq composite index slid 0.15% to 2,063.15 points