North American stocks may open lower on Thursday despite upbeat results from Apple.

Apple reported a 73% profit rise on sales of Macintosh computers. The computer maker forecast that it will have sold one million iPhones by the end of its fiscal fourth quarter.

Crude oil prices rose 90¢ to US$76.78 a barrel, after jumping $2.32 a barrel yesterday after weekly inventory data showed a drawdown in oil stocks.

On the economic front, new orders for long-lasting U.S-made manufactured goods rose 1.4% in June on a big rise in orders for nondefense aircraft, the U.S. Commerce Department reported today..

Meanwhile, the number of new claims filed for U.S. jobless benefits fell unexpectedly in the latest week, dropping 2,000 to the lowest in more than two months.

Initial jobless claims for state unemployment benefits fell for the third week, dropping to 301,000 for the week ended July 21 from an upwardly revised 303,000 the prior week and to the lowest level since May 12, the Labor Department said.

U.S. new home sales data for June will be released later this morning.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US95.8¢, down 0.29 of a cent.

In other earnings news, Petro-Canada said it netted $845 million during the three months ended June 30, compared to $472 million during the same period a year ago.

Ford Motor reported its first profit in two years as North American losses substantially narrowed amid its ongoing restructuring. The No. 2 auto maker in the U.S. also said it is exploring the potential sale of Jaguar and Land Rover.

Exxon Mobil posted a 1% drop in net, to US$10.26 billion, as lower natural-gas volume was offset by higher refining, marketing and chemical margins

Bristol-Myers Squibb upped its annual earnings outlook, though the midpoint of its new range was still under Wall Street estimates.

Dow Chemical reported a 2% profit rise. Insurers Aetna and Travelers both lifted earnings outlooks.

Overseas, Royal Dutch Shell reported an 18% profit rise on refinery strength, and Sony more than doubled its quarterly profit despite losses at its games division.

After markets closed Wednesday, TSX Group posted a 37% profit jump on higher revenues as it announced plans to buy back up to 10% of its shares.

The Montreal Exchange announced a 7% increase in net earnings in the second quarter to $6.9 million.

The Nikkei 225 dropped 0.9% in Tokyo. The FTSE 100 dropped 1%, mirroring the turn in stock futures.

The Toronto stock market posted a modest gain after a volatile trade Wednesday, following yesterday’s 400-point plunge.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 37.16 points, or 0.26%, at 14,105.32,

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index declined 28.01 points, or 0.85%, to 3,225.07.

In New York, stocks ended higher on strong earnings reports from Amazon.com and Boeing after Tuesday’s sharp losses

The Dow Jones industrials finished up 68.12 points to 13,785.07.

The Nasdaq composite index moved up 8.31 points to 2,648.17 and the S&P 500 index was ahead 7.05 points to 1,518.09.