american markets

North American markets were mixed at midday Wednesday, as investors held their fire waiting for the statement from the U.S.

Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee in the afternoon.

Unilever's shares were downgraded by both UBS and ING on Friday after the company warned of a tougher second half of the year due to steeper commodities prices and a slow economic recovery in its key European and North American markets.

On the Toronto Stock Exchange, the S&P/TSX composite index was down 46.2 points to 11,486.6 at mid-morning.

Wall Street investors are waiting to see if a seven-month stock rally can be sustained on the latest round of bank earnings this week.

Nokia Siemens Networks said Saturday it will buy the wireless operations of Canadian-based Nortel Networks in a $650 million (euro465 million) deal to strengthen its position in North American markets.