North American markets are expected to open flat Thursday as investors show caution in advance of Friday’s key jobs reports in Canada and the United States, and weigh the impact of rising oil prices.

This morning the U.S. government reported that the number of U.S. workers filing first-time applications for unemployment benefits tumbled last week, the first drop in four weeks.

Initial jobless claims fell by 37,000 to a seasonally adjusted 335,000 in the week that ended Oct. 2, the Labor Department said. The four-week average of claims, considered a more stable indicator by economists, climbed to 348,500, up 4,250 from 344,250. Forecasters had called for initial claims to decrease by just 19,000.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

In this morning’s earnings news, ATI Technologies Inc. said its fourth-quarter profit almost tripled to US$61.2 million as revenue soared 50%. Meanwhile, full-year earnings were up almost six-fold to US$204.8 million.

Overnight in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei slid 30.79 points or 0.27% to 11,354.59.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 50.16 points or 0.38% closing at 13,321.73.

Toronto stocks closed higher Wednesday getting a boost from energy stocks and mining issues. The S&P/TSX composite index jumped 74.88 points or 0.85% to 8,871.93 on a volume of 286 million shares.

Energy stocks climbed as the November delivery contract for light sweet crude closed at a new record higher of US$52.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a gain of 93¢ from Tuesday.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index was up 11.00 points at 1,669.91.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks staged a late-day rally to end higher, with the Nasdaq climbing for the seventh straight session, as investor appetite for bargains trumped concern over a new high for oil.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 62.24 points or 0.61% at 10,239.92, while the S&P 500 rose 7.57 points or 0.67% to 1,142.05.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index added 15.53 points or 0.79% to end the session at 1,971.03.