North American stocks are likely to open slightly higher Thursday after plummeting yesterday on concerns about continued interest-rate increases.

On Wednesday, the Dow industrials tumbled 214.28 points, or 1.9%, to 11205.61, and other indexes also declined after a stronger-than-forecast reading of U.S. core inflation sparked another bout of heavy selling.

There was some good news in today’s consumer inflation report from Statistics Canada, which showed an unexpected drop in core inflation last month.

Higher gasoline prices at the pump drove up the annual inflation rate to 2.4% in April, from 2.2% in March, StatsCan said.

However, the core inflation rate, which excludes volatile energy prices, unexpectedly slipped to 1.6% in April, from 1.7% in March.

The drop raises doubts about whether the inflation-fighting Bank of Canada will hike interest rates next week.

The Canadian dollar opened at US89.70¢, down 0.07 of a cent.

South of the border, investors will be watching for weekly jobless claims, April leading indicators and the Philly Fed survey as the economic highlights of the day.

Among stocks to watch, Burger King will be in focus as the fast-food chain starts trade. The company priced its initial public offering at $17 a share, the high end of its indicated range.

Dell and Gap are due to unveil results after the market’s close.

Crude-oil futures fell 19¢ to US$68.50 a barrel in early Thursday trading.

European stock markets edged higher in midday trade. Asian markets fell in their first opportunity to react to the U.S. inflation report.

The Japanese Nikkei 225 index shed 220.49 points, or 1.35%, to finish at 16,087.18 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange – the lowest close since March 9.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 349.03 points, or 2.1%, to 16,266.52.

Toronto stocks tumbled Wednesday, closing lower for the sixth consecutive session, as inflation fears and volatile commodity prices spooked investors.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 188.81 points, or 1.6%, at 11,640.61.

The index has lost 3.3% this week and is down 5.5% in five sessions.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index lost 126.94 points, or 4.24%, to 2,869.35.

The Canadian dollar slipped almost half a cent to US89.77.

On Wall Street, U.S. markets also fell on stronger-than-expected consumer inflation data.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 214.28 points, or 1.88%, to end at 11,205.61. The S&P 500 fell 21.76 points, or 1.68% to finish at 1,270.32. The Nasdaq composite index tumbled 33.33 points, or 1.50%, to close at 2,195.80.

The blue-chip Dow suffered its biggest slide since March 2003, and the Nasdaq had its longest losing streak in five years.

The Nasdaq is now down 0.4% for the year. The Dow is still up 4.6%, while the S&P 500 is up 1.8% this year.