North American markets look set to open higher Tuesday morning, as the price of oil retreats from record levels.

Crude-oil prices fell 65¢ to US$59.89 a barrel in early trading Tuesday. On Monday, oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled at a record US$60.54 a barrel — their first close above US$60 a barrel.

Later today, the U.S. Conference Board is due to release the index of consumer confidence for June at 10:00. Economists expect the index to improve to a reading of 105.0 in June from 102.2 the previous month.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

In today’s financial news, Citigroup Inc., the world’s largest financial institution, will pay £13.9 million, or US$25.4 million, for breaching standards of behaviour in bond trades last year, the U.K. Financial Services Authority said today.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 stock average closed up 0.9% to 11,513.83, with construction and steel stocks mostly higher on bargain hunting.

On Monday, Toronto stocks eked out modest gains, as a hot energy sector, fuelled by rising oil prices, was offset by lagging technology issues.

The S&P/TSX composite index finished up 1.92 points, or 0.02%, at 9,998.09. Volume was 197 million shares.

Eight of the 10 TSX main sub-groups were down, with information technology falling 2.08% and telecommunications services down 0.49%. The energy group was up 2.16%.

PetroKazakhstan Inc. shares spiked up $5.64, or 17.35%, to $38.15 after the oil and gas company said it is in talks with potential buyers or partners. The Calgary-based firm has been in a long-running dispute with Russian oil giant Lukoil over a joint venture.

Nortel Networks fell 11¢, or 3.31%, to finish $3.21 ahead of its annual general meeting in Toronto on Wednesday.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished down 5.63, or 0.33%, to close 1,713.32.

The Canadian dollar was up 0.10 of a cent at US81.24¢.

In New York, markets closed mixed as nervous investors factored in high oil prices and anticipated the Federal Reserve’s interest rate announcement on Thursday.

The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average gained 7.28, or 0.07%, to close 10,305.12; the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 6.00 points, or 0.29%, to finish 2,047.27; while the broad based S&P 500 index lifted 0.65 points, or 0.05%, to finish 1,192.22.