North American markets are opening to mostly positive global indicators this morning. The Japanese Nikkei index closed at 16,101.91, up 5.81 points or 0.04%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng continued its nine-day surge, fuelled by strong performance by HSBC, closing at 15,856.05, up 43.52 points or 0.28%.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 rose to 5,854.40, a gain of 18.40 points or 0.11%. Germany’s DAX 30 index is down to 5,857.88, a drop of 18.4 points or 0.7%.

The Canadian dollar opened at US86.62¢, down 0.3 of a cent.

Toronto stocks closed in negative territory yesterday, the third-straight session of losses, as dropping crude oil prices offset positive corporate earnings.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 61.65, or 0.52%, to 11,738.55 at yesterday’s close.

A U.S. energy report showed higher domestic inventories for the second straight week. Light sweet crude for April delivery fell 47¢ to US$60.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. reported a fourth-quarter profit of $1.1 billion, nearly a 100% gain from the year previous. The company’s shares fell 8¢, or 0.13%, to $63.10.

Gold futures fell $5.70 to $550.90 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Barrick Gold Corp. reported its fourth-quarter profit rose to US$175 million, an increase of more than 12% from last year’s $156 million in the same quarter, and annual profit rose 62% to US$401 million. Nevertheless, Barrick shares fell $2.05 to $31.60.

TD Bank reported a fourth-quarter profit of $2.31 billion, more than tripling its profit from a year ago. TD shares gained 36¢, or 0.76%, to $47.85.

The S&P/TSX Venture Exchange index fell 8.46 points to 2,518.80 at yesterday’s close.

In New York, markets turned lower as inflation worries were stoked by a stronger-than-expected labour report.

The Dow Jones industrial index fell 67.95 to close yesterday at 11,069.22, the Nasdaq dipped 3.85 points to 2,279.32, and the S&P 500 lost 4.88 to 1,287.79.

The U.S. Labor Department reported that 278,000 laid-off workers applied for jobless benefits last week, a decline of 20,000 from the previous week.