North American stock markets are likely to open lower Thursday as crude oil prices rose.

Crude-oil futures rose in early trading as traders brushed aside U.S. government data showing increases in supplies of oil and gasoline last week.

Light sweet crude for January delivery rose 10¢ to US$59.31 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Canadian dollar opened at US86.1¢, down 0.18 of a cent.

In overseas trading, European markets dipped in early action.

Japan’s stock market lost 2% amid selling in banks and brokerages as most Asian markets finished down. The Nikkei 225 index fell 301.30 points to 15,183.36.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 255.79 points, or 1.7 per cent, to 14,879.16.

In earnings news, Geac Computer Corp. more than doubled its profit in the second quarter of fiscal 2006 to US$33.2 million from US$15.2 million a year ago.

On Wednesday, the Toronto stock market rose thanks to gains in resources issues. The S&P/TSX composite index finished 34.61 points higher at 11,131.43.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 45.95 points to 10,810.91. The Nasdaq composite index eased 8.75 to 2,252.01 and the S&P 500 dipped 6.33 points to 1,257.37.