North American stocks appear headed for a rebound Wednesday, with tech bellwether Hewlett-Packard reporting strong earnings results.

H-P reported a 51% jump in net income and a 4.6% sales increase for its fiscal second quarter. The company also forecast improved profits for its current quarter.

In today’s economic news, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale sales rebounded in March after falling in February. Wholesale sales rose 0.8% to $41.4 billion in March after falling 1.0% in February.

Although five of the seven wholesale sectors posted gains, most of March’s increase was attributable to stronger sales of personal and household goods and of machinery and electronic equipment.

Separately, StatsCan reported that Canadian investors purchased a record $9.2 billion of foreign securities in March, with heavy investment in both foreign bonds and stocks. Meanwhile, foreign investors purchased $3.3 billion worth of Canadian securities.

The Canadian dollar opened at US90.62¢, up 0.36 of a cent.

South of the border, U.S. consumer prices grew at a faster pace in April as energy prices jumped, while consumer prices excluding energy rose more than expected.

April consumer prices increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.6%, after rising 0.4% in March, the U.S. Labor Department said. Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy items, grew 0.3% in April, matching a 0.3% rise the previous month.

Economists had forecast a 0.6% growth in the overall index last month and a 0.2% rise in the core rate.

In M&A news, Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata launched a bid for Canada’s Falconbridge. The company it is offering $52.50 per share – or $16.1 billion – for the 80% of Toronto-based Falconbridge it doesn’t already own.

That values the company at $20 billion, about $1 billion more than a recently sweetened offer from Inco Ltd. Inco’s bid valued Falconbridge at about $51.17 a share, for a total of about $19 billion.

Crude-oil prices climbed 22¢ to US$69.75 a barrel in early trading Wednesday amid concerns about the West’s nuclear standoff with Iran and ahead of weekly data expected to show gasoline inventories grew but crude-oil stocks fell.

Most European markets were higher, though shares in London came under pressure after minutes from the last Bank of England meeting showed one member unexpectedly calling for an interest-rate rise.

Vivendi shares surged in Paris after the French media and telecommunications conglomerate said it received, and spurned, a break-up bid.

Asian stocks rebounded after recent losses.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 149.25 points, or 0.92%, to 16,397.67 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Honda Motor Co. added 0.78% on a day it announced plans to build new plants in Japan, the U.S. and Canada to boost production amid soaring demand for its cars.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 222.44 points, or 1.36%, to 16,615.55.

Toronto stocks ended slightly down Tuesday, after a volatile trading session, as commodity prices rebounded.

The S&P/TSX composite index ticked lower by 2.31, or 0.02%, to 11,829.42, after rallying in the morning session, and dropping into negative territory in the afternoon. The S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 33.20 points, or 1.10%, to 2,996.29.

In New York, markets closed lower on higher commodity prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 8.88 points to 11,419.89, the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 9.39 points at 2,229.13, while the S&P 500 Index dropped 2.42 points to 1,292.08.