orth American stock markets look set to open mixed as U.S. retail earnings reports rolled in and oil prices rose.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, said Tuesday that third-quarter earnings rose 11.5%, in line with expectations, and slightly lowered guidance for the year.

Crude oil futures rose as traders remained concerned about supplies heading deeper into the Northern Hemisphere winter. Light sweet crude for December delivery was up 31¢ to US$58.89 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe.

In other earnings news, Connors Bros. Income Fund saw its third-quarter net earnings fall by 28% to $10.2 million, due to higher restructuring, administrative and borrowing costs incurred by the canned seafood maker amid flat revenues.

Home Depot Inc., North America’s largest home improvement store chain, blamed a slowing housing market as it reported a 3.1% drop in third-quarter profit on a marked decline in sales at stores open at least a year. The company also lowered its earnings and sales growth guidance for the year.

In today’s U.S. economic news, wholesale prices tumbled throughout the production pipeline last month.

The producer price index for finished goods fell by 1.6% last month, matching the record decline, after decreasing 1.3% in September, the U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday. The core producer price index for goods excluding food and energy decreased 0.9%, the steepest drop since August 1993.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar opened at US87.73¢, down 0.66 of a cent from Friday’s close. Canadian financial institutions were closed Monday for Remembrance Day.

European indexes fell in early action.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 267.06 points, or 1.67%, to 16,289.55 points.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 9.88 points, or 0.1%, to 18,878.42.

Toronto stocks fell Monday, as lower resource prices put downward pressure on the energy and materials sectors, offsetting gains in the information technology group.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 31.07 points, or 0.25%, to 12,309.40.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 25.36 points, or 0.95%, to 2,648.89.

In New York, markets moved ahead on strong economic news.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 23.45 points, or 0.19%, 12,131.88, the Nasdaq composite index gained 16.66, or 0.70%, to 2,406.38, and the S&P 500 lifted 3.52, or 0.25%, to 1,384.42.