North American markets are expected to open little changed Thursday, taking a breather after Wednesday’s rally as oil prices continue to retreat.

Oil prices fell 65¢ to US$44.84 a barrel early Thursday. The decline comes after a report of strong supplies that sent crude-oil futures down 7.4% Wednesday — the sharpest percentage drop in 20 months.

Investors are also waiting for the U.S. and Canadian employment reports, due Friday.

In other economic news, U.S. initial jobless claims surged by 25,000 last week, the Labor Department said today.

The U.S. Commerce Department is due to report on factory orders at 10 a.m. Economists look for factory orders to increase by just 0.2%.

There are no major economic announcements from Statistics Canada today.

North American markets closed higher Wednesday as investors welcomed a sharp retreat by oil prices, but slumping energy and gold issues weighed on Toronto stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 34.42 points, or 0.38%, to 9,064.47. Volume was 318.3 million shares.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained just 1.46 points to finish at 1,755.85.

The Canadian dollar finished at US84.48¢, up from US84.32¢ at Tuesday’s close.

In New York, blue chips posted a triple-digit gain to end at a nine-month high Wednesday and the Nasdaq rose to its best level since January.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended at its high for the session, rising 162.20 points, or 1.6%, to 10,590.22.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbed to its best level in more than 10 months, surging 41.42 points, or 1.98%, to 2,138.23.

Tthe S&P 500 index was up 17.55 points, or 1.5%, at 1,191.37.