Energy stocks look set to support the broader Toronto market once again Tuesday as oil rose to a new high near US$113 per barrel.

Light sweet crude for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up $1.07 to US$112.83 a barrel, topping the previous intraday high of $112.21 last week.

The Canadian dollar opened at US97.88¢, down 0.20 of a cent.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

South of the border, U.S. wholesale prices surged on higher food and energy prices during March, but core inflation retreated to a mild rate after two months of big increases.

The producer price index for finished goods rose 1.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis after a 0.3% increase in February, the Labor Department said today.

The core index, which excludes food and energy items, climbed 0.2% last month, seasonally adjusted. It rose 0.5% in February and 0.4% during January.

Wall Street expected the mild core rate of increase but was surprised by the size of the surge in overall prices.

In M&A news, Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines agreed late Monday to combine in a stock-swap arrangement that would assemble the world’s biggest airline. Delta said the combined carrier would have an enterprise value of US$17.7 billion.

In today’s earnings news, State Street reported a 69% rise in first-quarter net income.

U.S. Bancorp reported a 3.5% drop in first-quarter net income, as a large boost to the bank’s provision for credit losses offset revenue growth and one-time gains amid higher charges in the prior year.

Still ahead are results from Johnson & Johnson and, after the close, tech bellwether Intel.

Overseas, the Japanese Nikkei 225 stock index rose 73.07 points, or 0.6%, to 12,990.58, recovering some of its 3.1% tumble Monday.

In Hong Kong, the blue chip Hang Seng index rose 90.13 points to 23,901.33 after losing 3.5% Monday.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index was up 0.7% near midday in London, while the Frankfurt DAX and Paris CAC-40 were each off 0.3%.

On Monday, energy stocks allowed Toronto’s main board to close higher despite weak earnings news from major U.S. bank Wachovia and a general wariness among investors in most sectors.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 55.57 points, or 0.41%, at 13,738.60.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 9.68 points, or 0.38%, to 2,547.66.

In New York, flat retail sales results for the month of March didn’t help when piled on top of a quarterly loss from U.S. bank Wachovia and lingering fears from GE’s grim results last week.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 23.36 points, or 0.19%, to end at 12,302.06. The S&P 500 lost 4.51 points, or 0.34%, to close at 1,328.32.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index also slipped, closing down 14.42 points, or 0.63%, at 2,275.82.