North American stock markets look set to open higher Thursday, as oil prices hit another record high and the Canadian inflation rate for March held steady.

Canada’s annual inflation rate remained at 2.2% in March as higher gasoline prices were offset by lower prices for clothing and computers, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

The core rate of inflation, which excludes such volatile items as energy, tobacco, and fruits and vegetables, also held steady at 1.7%, still well within the Bank of Canada’s inflation target of 1 to 3%.

The May-dated light, sweet crude contract added slipped 2¢ cents to US$72.15 a barrel in electronic trading Thursday morning after rising as high as US$72.30. The contract rose 82¢ to US$72.17 a barrel yesterday on the New York

In today’s earnings news, General Motors Corp. reported a first-quarter loss of US$323 million, its sixth straight quarterly loss. The loss of US57¢ per share for the January-March period was narrower than a loss of US$1.3 billion, or US$2.22 per share, in the first quarter of 2005.

Inco Ltd. said its first-quarter profit dropped to US$202 million from US$317 million a year earlier, driven down by higher production costs and lower prices for nickel and cobalt.

Cott Corp. reported a loss in its latest quarter and warned of significantly lower earnings for the year as the company takes unusual charges for restructuring and costs for stock option expenses.

Bank of America posted a 14% increase in net income for the first quarter, boosted by the acquisition of credit-card issuer MBNA

Asian markets finished mixed.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 32.59 points, or 0.19%, to 17,317.53 on the Tokyo exchange.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rose 113.9 points, or 0.68%, to 16,944.34, the highest closing level since Sept. 11, 2000.

Toronto stocks were up again Wednesday on higher resource prices.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 40.53 points, or 0.33%, to 12,487.32, adding to yesterday’s record close.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index rose 11.76 points, or 0.38%, to 3,117.60.

In New York, markets were cautious as yesterday’s indications from the U.S. Federal Reserve that the current streak of interest rate hikes might be coming to an end was somewhat offset by strong consumer data and higher oil prices, giving rise to inflation worries.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 10 points to 11,278.77, the Nasdaq composite index gained 14.74 points to 2,370.88, and the S&P 500 added 2.28 points to 1,309.93.