A taxi across Bay Street in Toronto's financial district in Toronto on June 14, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

TORONTO - North American markets were mixed Tuesday as investors awaited for signs from the U.S. Federal Reserve on how soon the central bank is considering rolling back its $85-billion bond buy back program.

The Dow Jones industrial futures was ahead by four points to 15,323, the S&P 500 futures index fell 1.6 points to 1,663, while the Nasdaq futures dipped 2.75 points to 3,018.25.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.27 of a cent to 97.44 cents US.

With not much in the way of economic or corporate news on the docket, the focus will be on scheduled speeches by two Fed presidents who have voting rights on the interest-rate setting committee.

St. Louis Fed president James Bullard will is set to give a speech about monetary policy in Frankfurt, while New York Fed president William Dudley will touch on Japan and U.S. policy in New York.

Both speeches will be eyed carefully ahead of a much-anticipated statement by Fed chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday before the U.S. Congress.

The central bank will also release minutes of its most recent policy meeting on Wednesday. Both events have the potential to alter the prevailing backdrop in financial markets.

At issue, is how long the Fed will continue with its latest round of massive bond purchases known as quantitative easing. The aggressive monetary stimulus is aimed at driving down interest rates and encourage lending.

But a recent run of strong U.S. economic data, largely related to housing and jobs, has fuelled speculation that the Fed might consider changing course. The prospect of a less-easy monetary policy has put a brake on stocks this week.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Stock Exchange will reopen after it was closed Monday due to Victoria Day.

On Tuesday, Mark Carney will deliver his last official speech as Bank of Canada governor to the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal before leaving the central bank to head the Bank of England.

The statement is not expected to have much of an impact on the markets as investors will be more interested in what incoming governor Stephen Poloz will say when he assumes the role in the beginning of June.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was steady at 6,758, a day after it struck a 12-year closing high, while Germany's DAX fell 0.5 per cent to 8,416. The CAC-40 in France was 0.6 per cent lower at 3,997.

In Asia, Japan's main Nikkei stock index eked out a small 0.1 per cent gain to close at 15,381.02, its highest finish in more than five years. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.5 per cent to 23,366.37 while South Korea's Kospi fell less than 0.1 per cent to 1,981.09. Benchmarks in mainland China rose too.

On the commodities front, June gold bullion dropped $6.90 to US$1,377.20 an ounce,

The June crude contract was down 16 cents to US$96.55 a barrel and July copper climbed two cents to US$3.38 a pound.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2013