North American stocks may open flat Thursday as investors mull over a report that U.S. wholesale prices climbed at the fastest pace in 14 months.

Here at home, Statistics Canada reported this morning that foreign investors increased their holdings of Canadian securities by $20.4 billion in April. The vast majority of this was the result of a Canadian takeover of a foreign company via a share exchange, StatsCan said

Foreign investors also increased their holdings of Canadian bonds by $1 billion in April, after an increase of $2.2 billion in March.

After a small reprieve in March, foreign investors continued their divestment of Canadian money market paper in April, to the tune of $1.4 billion.

Meanwhile, Canadian investors continued to add to their holdings of foreign securities, primarily foreign bonds. In April, Canadians invested $1.3 billion in foreign bonds, compared with $0.2 billion in foreign stocks.

South of the border, U.S. wholesale prices climbed at the fastest pace in 14 months in May as food prices accelerated.

The producer-price index for finished goods rose 0.8% last month, marking the biggest increase since March 2003, the Labor Department said Thursday. The core index, which excludes food and energy items, also rose, climbing 0.3%. That marked the fastest pace in four months.

Economists had called for a 0.6% increase in the overall index and a 0.2% gain in core prices.

Meanwhile, U.S. initial jobless claims fell by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted level of 336,000 in the week that ended June 12, the Labor Department said today. That marked the lowest level in a month. The four-week average declined by 2,750 to 343,250/

Asian markets closed lower overnight.

Japan’s Nikkei dipped 33.82 points to 11,607.9.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index lost 78.92 points, closing at 12,082.86.

Worries about inflation and interest rates returned Wednesday, restraining North American markets from making significant gains.

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite Index added 37.63 points or 0.45% to 8,428.87. The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index added 12.39 or 0.81% to 1535.16.

Noranda Inc., which gained $2.07 to $24.06 and was one of the most active stocks on the TSX. Reports surfaced Wednesday that Brazilian iron ore giant CVRD will make a bid. Noranda controlling shareholder Brascan ran up $1.98 to $37.55. Noranda confirmed it is considering “several expressions of interest” from potential buyers.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial was the only losing index, though it only dropped by a mere 0.85 of a point at 10,379.58. The S&P 500 barely edged to the positive, up 1.59 points to 1,133.60. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index also made only a slight gain, up 2.64 points to finish at 1,998.24.