The outlook for stocks is mixed Wednesday as investors mull over the impact of the rising price of crude oil on the U.S. trade deficit.

In this morning’s economic news, Canada’s trade surplus hit its highest level in three years in March as merchandise exports grew at almost twice the pace of imports, Statistics Canada said today.

StatsCan said Canadian companies exported nearly $34.9 billion worth of merchandise outside the country, up 1.7%. On the other hand, imports rose only 0.9% to nearly $28.7 billion, the highest level in a year.

As a result, the surplus surpassed $6.2 billion, its highest level since May 2001.

South of the border, the U.S. trade gap widened to a record US$45.96 billion in March as increased exports were offset by ballooning oil prices. Import prices rose 0.2% in April.

On Tuesday, the price of crude oil settled above US$40 a barrel as traders discounted Saudi calls on OPEC to raise its output.

Rising oil prices are also taking a toll on European markets today.

At midday, Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax is down 0.5% at 3,829.23 points on high oil prices, interest-rate fears and disappointing earnings from companies such as Lufthansa.

In London, the FTSE 100 is off 0.2% at 4,444.2 points. There was so good news as Britain’s unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 4.7% in the latest quarter, the lowest figure since the current recordkeeping system began in 1984, the Office for National Statistics said.

In France, the economy expanded by an unexpected 0.8% in the first quarter, according to data released Wednesday. But the main CAC-40 index in Paris is off 0.23% at 3,598.28 points.

Overnight in Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei soared 246.4 points to finish at 11,153.58.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index edged up 20.09 points, to 11,528.18.

On Tuesday, interest rate worries receded enough for North American stock markets to enjoy gains driven by bargain hunters.

The S&P/TSX composite index advanced 75.57 points to 8,205.06. The junior TSX Venture composite index slipped 7.8 points to 1,558.69.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 29.45 at 10,019.47. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose a35.28 points to 1,931.35, partly on hopes for a strong quarterly report from Cisco Systems. After the close, Cisco beat Wall Street profit expectations by US1¢ per share.

The broader S&P 500 index rose 8.33 points to 1,095.45.