Investors will respond to a mix of economic and earnings news Wednesday after U.S. consumer prices rose slightly last month and Dutch banking giant ING reported at 19% drop in first quarter profit.

The bank also wrote down the value of its U.S. mortgage-related investments by US$5.6 billion.

In today’s economic news, the consumer price index increased 0.2% in April, the U.S. Labor Department said. Excluding food and energy, it advanced 0.1%.

Wall Street economists had expected a 0.2% rise in both the headline and core indexes.

In housing data, more Americans fell behind on their mortgage payments last month, driving the number of homes facing foreclosure up 65% over a year ago. According to RealtyTrac Inc., 243,353 U.S. households received at least one foreclosure-related filing in April.

Here at home, Statistics Canada reported that Newfoundland and Labrador led the nation in labour productivity growth in 2007, while Alberta had the largest decline.

The Canadian dollar he opened at US99.83¢, up 0.11 cent from Tuesday’s close.

Crude-oil futures slipped 38¢ to US$125.42 a barrel ahead of the release of weekly U.S. energy inventory data at 10 a.m. Gold futures dropped US$6.50 to
US$863.10 an ounce.

In today’s earnings news, ING Canada Inc. reported a sharp drop in first-quarter net income to $23 million, compared with $126.2 million a year earlier, blaming turbulent weather and stock markets.

ArcelorMittal reported a 5% profit increase.

In corporate news, Bankers Petroleum Ltd. is splitting in two — one company focusing on heavy oil in Albania and the other on North American shale gas.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei average advanced 1.2% Wednesday, closing up by 164.82 points at 14,118.55, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng slipped 19.29 points to 25,533.48.

The FTSE 100 index was down 0.5% early in the afternoon in London, while the German DAX declined 0.7% but the Paris CAC 40 edged higher by 0.2%.

Toronto markets were pulled lower by commodities stocks Tuesday, after Monday’s record high close.

The S&P/TSX Composite index closed down 49.37 points, or 0.34%, at 14,616.70. Six of the 10 major TSX groups fell.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index closed down 20.16 points, or 0.78%, at 2555.95.

In New York, grim earnings forecasts from Wal Mart plus Fed chief Ben Bernanke’s description of markets as “far from normal” weighed on markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 44.13 points, or 0.34%, at 12,832.18.

The S&P 500 lost 0.54points, or 0.04%, to close at 1,403.04.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index, however, closed up 6.63 points, or 0.27%, at 2,495.12.