North American markets opened to mixed global indicators, as Canada awoke to signs of inflation.

Tokyo’s Nikkei was down 113.16 points this morning to 15,781.78 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 8.48 to 15,635.72. In Europe, the FTSE 100 was down 8.30 to 5,849.40 while the DAX was up 13.96 to 5,815.00.

Statistics Canada reported a rise in the consumer price index. Due to higher energy prices, the CPI increased 0.5% more than in December 2005, the first monthly increase since September 2005. On a 12-month basis, the All-item CPI rose by 2.8% in January.

Markets closed on a downward trend yesterday. The S&P/TSX composite index lost ground as traders resorted to profit-taking in commodity stocks

The senior exchange lost 39.32 to 11,826.44 on the session yesterday. The energy index was off 1.27%, while the materials index was off 0.36%.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery gained $1.22 to $61.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Canadian dollar closed unchanged yesterday at US87.18¢. The loonie had climbed earlier in the day after Statistics Canada reported that retail sales hit a record $31.25 billion in December, an increase of 0.3%.

The information technology sector advanced 0.50%. Research in Motion Inc. gained $1.60, or 1.92%, to $85.10.

The junior TSX Venture Exchange closed basically flat, down 0.14 of a point to 2,539.32.

There was also a sell-off in the U.S., where the Conference Board reported that its Index of Leading Economic Indicators, an index designed to predict economic activity over the short term, rose sharply in January.

In New York, Dow Jones industrials lost 46.26 points to 11,069.06, the Nasdaq dropped 19.87 points at 2,268.49 and the S&P 500 lost 4.21 points to 1,283.03