Early signals suggest a weak start for North American stock markets Thursday as investors await more earnings reports, and mull over the latest figures on producer price inflation, and initial jobless claims.

U.S. inflation at the producer level accelerated in March, but remained at a low level.

The producer-price index for finished goods rose 0.5% last month after rising by 0.1% in February, the Labor Department said Thursday. The increase reflected gains in food and energy prices, which rose by 1.5% and 0.6%, respectively. The closely watched “core” index, which excludes both food energy and food items, rose 0.2% after a 0.1% gain in February.

The numbers were exactly in line with Wall Street’s expectations.

Although the report showed that inflation climbed on a monthly basis, the report showed that inflationary pressures moderated in annual terms. In the 12 months that ended March, producer prices were up 1.4%, slowing from the 2.1% pace recorded in February.

In a separate release, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims fell by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted level of 353,000 in the week that ended April 17. The four-week average, however, rose 2,250 to 347,000.

Economists had called for claims to fall by 20,000 to 340,000.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

Overnight in Asia, a stronger U.S. dollar pushed Tokyo shares slightly higher, but Hong Kong prices declined for a seventh consecutive session as stocks fell across much of Asia.

The Nikkei closed up 35.8 points at 11,980.1. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 59.6 points to finish at 12,167.7.

In news after markets closed Wednesday, it was reported that Bank of Nova Scotia is said to be readying a bid for Thailand’s Bank of Asia, a deal that could be worth as much as $800 million.

Investors found it tough to concentrate on positive earnings reports on Wednesday as U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said an interest rate hike will be needed to head off inflation.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 29.93 points at 8,573.05

South of the border the markets fared better. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 17 points to 1,995.63. The broader S&P 500 climbed 5.97 points to 1,124.12. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average gained 2.77 points to 10,317.27.