North American stocks appeared set to rebound Tuesday from a two-day slide after Goldman Sachs capped a another record-breaking year with a 2.2% increase in fiscal fourth-quarter net income.

The Wall Street investment bank today posted earnings of US$3.22 billion, or US$7.01 a share, for the quarter ended November 30, up from US$3.15 billion, or US$6.59 a share, a year earlier.

Here at home, higher gasoline and mortgage interest costs helped to boost the annual inflation rate to 2.5% in November, Statistics Canada reported today. That’s up from 2.4% in October.

But the core inflation rate — which excludes the most volatile elements of the consumer price index — rose only 1.6%, posting its slowest 12-month increase since April 2006.

The Canadian dollar opened at US98.74¢, down more than two-thirds of a cent from Monday’s close.

Investors are also monitoring the efforts of global central banks to pump more liquidity into money markets. The European Central Bank said it would offer unlimited two-week funds at a fixed rate and banks requested US$501 billion in such funds. Results from the Federal Reserve’s $20 billion auction of funds will be announced on Wednesday.

In other earnings news, Adobe Systems reported a 21% profit rise and topping 2008 earnings estimates.

Crude-oil futures rose 93¢ to US$91.98 a barrel.



Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.27% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.51%.

In London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.76%, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.81% and France’s CAC-40 rose 0.71%.

Toronto stocks closed broadly lower on Monday amid a sharp selloff by resource issues.

The S&P/TSX composite index plunged 287.12 points, or 2.1%, at 13,387.11 with all 10 of the TSX main groups in negative territory.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index plunged 84.39 points, or 3.13%, to 2,607.95.

U.S. inflation jitters helped to boost the Canadian dollar. The loonie jumped 1.1¢ to close at US99.43 cents.

In New York, U.S. stocks tumbled on concerns that the housing slump, combined with surging prices, posed the threat of 1970s-style stagflation.

The Dow Jones industrial average slid 172.65 points, or 1.29%, to end at 13,167.20. The S&P 500 dropped 22.05 points, or 1.50%, to 1,445.90. The Nasdaq composite index tumbled 61.28 points, or 2.32%, to 2,574.46.