North American stocks look set to resume their slide at Friday’s open despite a narrower gap between U.S. imports and exports.

On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial avereage and the S&P/TSX composite index recorded triple-digit losses.

In today’s economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that the U.S. trade gap unexpectedly narrowed in March to US$62 billion from US$65.7 billion.

Here at home, Statistics Canada said imports and exports both registered gains in March, halting two months of modest slowdowns.

Exports increased 1.1% to $38.3 billion, while imports were up 3.6% to $33.1 billion. As a result, the trade surplus fell from a revised $5.9 billion in February to $5.1 billion in March.

The Canadian dollar opened at US90.79¢ this morning, up 0.01 of a cent.

Other key data for release later today include the University of Michigan’s poll of May consumer sentiment in the U.S. and April’s U.S. import price index.

Crude-oil futures for June delivery dropped 64¢ to US$72.68 a barrel in electronic trading on a combination of profit-taking and a statement from the International Energy Agency, which lowered its 2006 oil demand outlook by 15%.

European stock markets saw heavy losses, with the German DAX Xetra down 1.5%, the French CAC-40 index falling 1.4%, and the U.K. FTSE-100 index sliding 1.5%.

Japanese stocks fell for a fourth straight day, with the Nikkei 225 index declining 260.36 points, or 1.54%, to finish at 16,601.78 points on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 238.93 points, or 1.39%, to 16,901.85.

Toronto stocks dropped Thursday, despite higher commodity prices, as investors sold off after the market’s recent highs.

The S&P/TSX composite index tumbled 150.88 points, or 1.23%, to 12,165.43.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index bucked the day’s trend and gained 20.92 points, or 3,292.49, or 0.64%.

In New York, markets were down as investors worried over inflation and the rising price of commodities.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 141.92 points at 11,500.73. The Nasdaq composite index fell 48.04 points to 2,272.70, while the S&P 500 fell 16.93 points to 1,305.92.