North American stocks are likely to open lower Tuesday, taking a pause after the streak of winning sessions on the TSX and the Dow.

In today’s economic news, strong foreign demand for Canada’s natural resources products, combined with higher prices, pushed the nation’s total merchandise exports to a record high in 2006, according to a review of the year’s activities by Statistics Canada.

In total, the value of exports rose 1.1% from 2005, while export volumes were up 1.6%, StatsCan said. Overall export prices decreased as downward pressure on lumber and natural gas prices offset record prices for metals and crude petroleum.

The Canadian dollar opened at US90.74¢, down 0.02 of a cent.

South of the border, a report on March wholesale inventories in the United States is due out shortly after the open. The Federal Reserve releases its interest-rate decision and policy statement on Wednesday.

In today’s earnings news, high gold prices helped first-quarter earnings soar for Kinross Gold. The company, which reports in U.S. dollars, said Tuesday its earnings were US$68.5 million, or 15¢ a diluted share, compared to US$8.9 million, or 3¢ a share last year.

Deutsche Bank’s first-quarter net profit rose 30% as robust capital markets supported its debt and equity-trading business.

Marsh & McLennan said its quarterly net income fell 36% amid a gain from last year’s divestiture of a claims-management provider. Revenue increased 5.2% to US$2.81 billion.

After the close, Walt Disney and Cisco Systems report quarterly results.

In M&A news, Reuters and Thomson set out details of a possible merger. Reuters chief executive Tom Glocer would become CEO of the combined companies if a planned merger that values Reuters at around £8.8 billion (US$17.55 billion) is successful.

Crude-oil futures edged up a cent to US$61.48 a barrel and gold futures dropped US$2.60 to US$687.80 an ounce.

In overseas markets, the German DAX 30 dropped 1%.

In Asia, Japanese stocks edged lower, with the benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index slipping 12.99 points, or 0.07%, to finish at 17,656.84.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 190.29 points, or 0.9%, to 20,706.35.

North American markets posted record closes Monday, as investors cheered continued merger and acquisition announcements.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 95.26 points, or 0.69%, to 13,865.51, setting a record for the second-consecutive session.

Alcan shares rose $23.02, or 34.08%, to $90.57, on a volume of about 21 million shares, after U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa announced a hostile bid for the company.

In New York trading, Alcoa shares rose 8.3%.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index moved up 22.06, or 0.66%, to 3,369.79.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average posted a fresh record high for the fifth straight session on merger activity, but other markets posted mixed results.

The Dow gained 48.35 points, or 0.36%, to 13,312.97, a new record close. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 1.20, or 0.05%, to 2,570.95, the S&P500 moved ahead 3.86, or 0.26%, to 1,509.48.