North American markets may open lower Wednesday as investors move to lock in profits from Tuesday’s advance.

In today’s economic news, the Institute for Supply Management’s report on the U.S. services industry is due out at 10:00, followed by a report on U.S. oil inventories.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

Crude futures surpassed US$62 for second time in three days Wednesday morning, amid concerns about outages at three U.S. refineries and warnings of more storms in the Atlantic that could disrupt output in the Gulf of Mexico

In today’s earnings news, Rockwater Capital Corp. reported sharply higher profits and a big jump in revenues for the second quarter. The asset manager and brokerage said it earned $1.6 million or 7¢ a share for the three months ended June 30. That compared with a profit of $114,000 or 1¢ a share last year.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. reported lower profits in the second quarter but increased revenues and production. The oil and natural gas producer reported Wednesday it earned $219 million or 41¢ a share for the three months ended June 30. That compared with a profit of $259 million or 48¢ a share for the same 2004 period.

BCE Inc. said wireless, high-speed Internet and video products helped boost its second-quarter revenue up 4.2% to $5 billion, while profit rose 1.6% to $563 million. Earnings for the quarter ended June 30 amounted to 61¢ a share, diluted, and compared with $554 million or 60¢ per share a year earlier.

The Jean Coutu Group, North America’s fourth-largest drugstore chain, said its fourth-quarter profit jumped to US$46.2 million from a year-earlier US$32.6 million. Revenues for the year ended May 28 were up 216% at US$2.8 billion.

Time Warner said that it has reached a settlement with shareholders who sued the media conglomerate after its merger with AOL. The company also reported a loss of US$321 million, or 7¢ a share, for the second quarter, after setting aside US$3 billion in litigation reserves. In the year-earlier period, Time Warner logged a profit of US$777 million, or 17¢ a share.

In Europe, shares were lower at midday. London’s FTSE 100-share index slipped 0.3% to 5,311, despite a rebound in a gauge of the United Kingdom’s manufacturing industry. Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax index fell 0.2%, while Paris’s CAC-40 index lost 0.4%.

In Asia, financial markets closed mixed as Tokyo stocks hit a 15-month high amid broad buying. Stocks also rallied in Indonesia and Taiwan. In Hong Kong, oil stocks led the market lower.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 41.6 points, or 0.3%, to 11,981.8 – its highest level since on April 28, 2004.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index shed 18.58 points, or 0.12%, ending at 15,118.5.

The Canadian dollar opened Wednesday at US82.43¢, up 0.21 of a cent. On Tuesday, the loonie had risen 0.53 of a cent.

On Tuesday, Toronto stocks enjoyed a runaway rally, as major oil-patch acquisitions news and surging crude prices had investors in a buying mood. The S&P/TSX composite index finished ahead 198.29, or 1.90%, to close 10,621.22.

The senior exchange was closed yesterday for the August civic holiday.

The rally was broad based, with nine of 10 sub-groups ahead on the day.

The energy sector rose a remarkable 3.82%.

The heavily weighted financials group closed up 1.56%.

Late Tuesday, it was reported Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce agreed to pay US$2.4 billion to settle claims it helped hide losses at Enron Corp. through a massive accounting fraud. Shares in the bank rose 63¢, or 0.79%, to $80.64.

The junior S&P/TSX venture exchange finished ahead 2.67, or 0.15%, to 1,806.40.

In New York, positive economic news overshadowed a raft of mixed corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 60.59, or 0.57%, to 10,683.74. Spurred by rising technology stocks, the Nasdaq gained 22.77, or 1.04%, to close 2,218.77, a four-year high. The broad based S&P 500 index moved ahead 8.77, or 0.71%, to close 1,244.12.