North American stock markets look set open lower Wednesday as crude-oil prices rose.

Oil prices rose ahead of a weekly report expected to show a hefty increase in U.S. crude oil inventories. Light sweet crude for May delivery rose 10¢ to US$62.44 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Wall Street futures were flat to negative and European indexes were mixed.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 129.32 points, or 0.78%, to finish at 16,495.48 points. The market was closed Tuesday for a national holiday.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 279.94 points, or 1.76%, to 15,642.81.

The Canadian dollar opened at US85.47¢, down 0.44 of a cent.

On Tuesday, Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge said today that more modest interest rate increases may be coming to fight inflationary pressures in the economy.

In a news conference in Toronto, Dodge said there “may: be a need for further increases in interest rates based on robust economic growth rates that could push up inflation.

Toronto stocks ended higher Tuesday, regaining some of the losses from the previous session, driven once again by a rise in the energy group.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 18.29 points, or 0.15%, to 11,947.61.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index dipped 8.01, or 0.30%, to 2,667.32.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks fell after U.S. Fed chief Ben Bernanke failed to provide indications about interest-rate direction his Monday night speech to the Economic Club of New York.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 39.06 points to 11,235.47, the Nasdaq composite index fell 19.88 points to 2,294.23, while the S&P 500 dropped 7.85 points to 1,297.23.