North American markets are expected to open lower Thursday with investors weighing stronger U.S. retail sales against a jump in jobless claims.

The Commerce Department said today that December retail sales jumped 1.2% to US$349.4 billion, far above the small 0.1% gain recorded in November. It was the best showing since a 1.6% surge in September. Economists had called for a 1% increase. The increase was fueled by a rise n autosales.

Meanwhile, overall U.S. import prices fell 1.3% last month, marking the biggest drop since April 2003, the U.S. Labor Department said.

In a separate release, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose by 10,000 to 367,000 in the week that ended Jan. 8, marking the highest level since the week of Sept. 25. The four-week average, which moderates out weekly fluctuations, climbed to a 12-week high of 344,000.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

After the closing bell yesterday, Apple Computer posted a quarterly profit that more than quadrupled, dramatically exceeding Wall Street expectations.

On Wednesday, Toronto stocks ended barely changed as the impact of a stronger Canadian dollar of industrial and financial issues offset gains in energy stocks. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 2.02 points, or 0.02%, at 9,022.71

Six of the 10 TSX groups ended lower. Volume was 281 million shares.

Energy stocks rose 1.9%.

The heavily weighted financial group slipped 0.52% following a rally in the Canadian dollar.

The Canadian dollar shot up by more than a 1¢ on foreign exchange markets after reports showed Canada’s trade surplus grew in November while the trade deficit in the U.S. widened.

The loonie closed up 1.21¢ at US83.31¢ after trading as high as US83.70¢.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 7.11 points, or 0.40%, at 1,779.64.

On Wall Street, U.S. markets ended higher as a wave of late buying pushed indexes up after a lackluster session.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 61.56 points, or 0.58%, to end at 10,617.78. The S&P 500 index was up 4.71 points, or 0.40%, to close at 1,187.70. The Nasdaq composite index was up 12.91 points, or 0.62%, to finish at 2,092.53.