Low trading volumes are expected on North American markets this week, as some traders take an extended Christmas Holiday. U.S. traders are facing the shadow of the weekend terrorist alert. Futures are down pointing to a weak opening.

In Canada, the short week has begun with a small gift from Statistics Canada. Retail sales advanced marginally in October, says StatsCan. Sales by retailers edged up 0.2% to $26.4 billion in October, after falling 1.0% in September.

Lower gasoline prices at the pump depressed overall retail sales growth in October. Retailers of big-ticket items, such as auto dealers and household furniture and appliance stores, as well as general merchandisers, clothing stores and drug stores posted essentially flat sales. Food retailers were the exception, with a sizable sales increase in October.

The marginal increase accords with marginal spending. The good news, says StatsCan, is that when prices are taken into account, total retail sales advanced 0.6% in October, following the 1.0% decline in September.

Tomorrow, Statistics Canada will release the wholesale trade figures and the employment figures for October. Gross domestic product figures by industry for October are also due. The U.S. Commerce Department is will report on gross domestic product for the third quarter and personal income and spending for November.

In business news, today, Air Canada says that its board of directors has confirmed acceptance of Hong Kong businessman Victor Li’s improved offer for a 31% stake in the airline. A report from the airline will be filed in the bankruptcy court later today.

In Europe at midday, London’s FTSE 100, Frankfurt’s DAX and Paris’s CAC40 are all up 0.1%.

Asian stock markets closed their Monday trading higher. Tokyo’s Nikkei gained 87.97 points, or 0.86%, to 10,372.51. In Hong Kong, the main Hang Seng Index rose 116.24 points, or 0.93%, to 12,487.99.

On Friday, Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite closed 10.84 points lower Friday at 8,113.82. The index gained 134.62 points on the week after closing above 8,000 last Wednesday for the first time since June 2001.

The Dow industrial average gained 30.14 points to 10,278.22 to advance 236.06 points on the week. The Nasdaq turned lower by 5.16 points to 1,951.02 and edged up 2.02 points for the week. The S&P 500 was off 0.52 of a point at 1,088.66.