North American markets are likely to slip at the open Wednesday as traders worry about Hurricane Ivan’s effect on oil prices and await the outcome of OPEC’s meeting in Vienna today.

Canadian investors will also be paying close attention to Celestica Inc. and Royal Bank of Canada.

After markets closed Tuesday, the electronics manufacturer warned that its current quarter has been much weaker than expected as the result of reduced orders from major customers.

Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings said offered a blunt assessment of Royal Bank as it announced it was placing credit ratings of Canada’s largest bank on a negative watch.

The rating agency said is trying to determine whether a major executive and organizational shakeup at RBC is likely to help or hurt the bank’s efforts to reverse its sagging fortunes in the United States.

In today’s economic news, Statistics Canada said manufacturing shipments climbed to a new record in July. Shipments rose by 0.5% from June to $50.2 billion.

StatsCan said the increase was led primarily by price increases in key industries such as petroleum, chemicals, wood and primary metals, manufacturers.

In a separate release, the government agency said Canada’s net liability to foreign residents declined $10.5 billion to $175.9 billion at the end of June.

StatsCan said the drop came as a result of the increase in Canadian direct investment abroad during the second quarter.

Overnight in Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei issues fell 137 points, or 1.21%, to 11,158.58. Traders sold technology shares and industrial blue chips on concerns about U.S. stock prices and the U.S. economy.

Shares in Hong Kong dropped as traders staged a mild selloff in response to rising oil prices. The Hang Seng Index declined 63.66 points, or 0.48%, to 13,084.4.

Bay Street stocks closed broadly lower Tuesday, digesting the previous session’s big gains. The S&P/TSX composite index fell 34.98 points, or 0.4%, to 8,478.44.

Nine of the TSE’s 10 sector gauges were in the red. Only materials closed positive, thanks to strength in the gold sector.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite Index of small-cap issues rose 3.98 points to 1,517.33.

The Canadian dollar closed at US77.31¢ versus the U.S. dollar.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average added 3.40 points to 10,318.16. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index edged up 5.02 points to 1,915.40 and the broader S&P 500 advanced 2.51 points to 1,128.33.

After markets closed, software maker Oracle said its net income rose 16% in the first quarter, but a 36% drop in application-software sales underscored the company’s urgency in bidding for rival PeopleSoft.