Source: The Canadian Press

North American stock markets appeared set to open higher Wednesday as investors look for deals following a day of steep declines.

The Toronto stock market lost 134.23 points or more than 1% of its value Tuesday after a ratings agency downgraded Greece’s debt rating to junk status, and the New York indexes saw even steeper losses.

Ahead of today’s opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures were up 38 points to 10,993, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 8.50 points to 2,017.25. S&P 500 index futures rose 5.30 points to 1,186.30.

Investors will be looking for direction from the U.S. Federal Reserve when it makes its interest rate announcement in the afternoon. While it’s widely assumed the Fed will keep its policy rate near zero for the 16th month in a row to continue to stimulate borrowing, investors will be listening carefully for any change in the language of the announcement that could indicate when rates will start to rise.

“Look for some subtle changes. That starts to set the groundwork in place that, whether it’s in three months or six months, these historic-low interest rates will start to change once there’s supporting economic data,” said Kathryn DelGreco, vice-president at TD Waterhouse.

“But I think until we see a material change in the unemployment numbers in the United States, politically it’s going to be hard for them to make any moves on interest rates.”

The Canadian dollar moved higher in morning trading after a 1.59-cent plunge Tuesday, adding 0.68 cent to 98.95 cents US.

The June crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 35 cents to US$82.79 a barrel, while the June bullion contract added 60 cents to US$1,162.80 an ounce.

In Canada, a mixed bag of earnings will also influence the Toronto stock market Wednesday.

Husky Energy Inc. (TSX:HSE) reported a higher first-quarter profit of $345 million or 41 cents per share thanks to stronger oil prices, but this was weaker than analysts’ expectation of 51 cents per share.

Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) said that higher gold prices helped it achieve record earnings of US$758 million in the first quarter, soundly beating analysts’ estimates for the world’s biggest gold producer.

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (TSX:CP; NYSE:CP) also beat expectations for its first quarter, earning $100 million or 74% more than a year earlier as the company benefited from an improving economy as well as cost controls.

And Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B), Canada’s largest cable TV operator and cellphone services provider, said its net profits rose 23% in the latest quarter on higher revenue and cost cutting.

Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3%, Germany’s DAX index lost 0.4%, and France’s CAC-40 fell 0.8%. Japan’s Nikkei stock average dropped 2.6% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.5%.