North American stocks look likely to open flat Thursday ahead of testimony by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

Greenspan testifies before the U.S. Congress’s Joint Economic Committee at 10:00 ET. Investors will be looking to see whether the Fed chief will provide clues on the direction of short-term interest rates.

In today’s U.S. economic news, the U.S. Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell by a seasonally adjusted 21,000 to 330,000 – the biggest slide in nearly two months – in the week that ended June 4. Economists expected jobless claims to fall by 20,000.

Here at home, Statistics Canada said labour productivity in the Canadian business sector edged up 0.2% during the first three months of 2005 compared with the previous quarter, continuing its anaemic performance of the past two years.

Separately, the government agency said capacity use among industries fell for the first time in a year during the first quarter of 2005, even though the rate hit a record high in the manufacturing sector.

In business news, Royal Bank of Canada and Dexia BIL of Luxembourg are combining their institutional investor services in a joint venture valued at 500 million euros, or about $770 million. The deal involves US$1.8 trillion in client assets and 3,500 employees,

The equally owned venture is to be named RBC Dexia Investor Services, the companies said, and will rank among the world’s top 10 global asset custodians.

In today’s earnings news, Certicom Corp. said rising revenue enabled it to cut its fourth-quarter loss to US$1.2 million, compared with US$2.1 million a year earlier, after it won a key U.S. government contract.

Meanwhile, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg resigned from the board of American International Group. Greenberg already had stepped down as chairman and chief executive in March, amid state and federal investigations into the company’s accounting.

On Wednesday, Toronto stocks finished higher on the strength of the energy and financial sectors, while U.S. markets slipped in anticipation of Greenspan’s testimony.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 51.72 points, or 0.54%, to finish at 9,707.88

The price of oil dropped $1.22 to finish at US$52.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after a U.S. government report on inventories showed a 3 million barrel draw on crude; analysts had expected a build.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 1.85, or 0.11%, to finish at 1,653.82.

On Wall Street, confusion over the future direction of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s recent policy of measured rate hikes contributed to the anemic performance of U.S. markets.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 6.21, or 0.06%, to finish at 10,476.86; the Nasdaq composite index fell 6.98, or 0.34%, to close at 2,060.18; and the S&P 500 fell 2.59, or 0.22%, to finish at 1,194.67.