Wall Street stock-index futures pointed to a mixed open Tuesday, as U.S. retail sales unexpectedly plunged during March, offsetting optimism generated by better-than-expected earnings at Goldman Sachs.

Retail sales decreased by 1.1% compared to the prior month, the U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday. Economists had expected an increase of 0.3%.

Meanwhile, U.S. producer prices posted the biggest drop so far this year in March after two straight months of gains on the back of falling energy costs, though core prices remained steady.

The producer price index for finished goods fell 1.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis in March, the U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday, after rising 0.1% in February. Last month’s drop was much bigger than the 0.1% decline predicted by economists.

PPI was off 3.5% from March 2008, the largest annual decline since January 1950.

Core PPI, which excludes food and energy costs, was unchanged last month from February, versus expectations for a 0.1% increase. It was up 3.8% from a year ago.

U.S. President Obama is due to make a speech on the economy at 11:30 ET, while Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver a speech on the global financial crisis.

Earnings results are due Tuesday from companies including Johnson & Johnson, microchip giant Intel and railroad firm CSX.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar opened at US82.14¢ this morning, up 0.13 of a cent from Monday’s close.

In commodities news, light sweet crude for May delivery rose 86¢ to US$50.91 a barrel by noon in European trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Asian stocks were mixed, with the Hang Seng up 3.6% in Hong Kong. Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.9%.

Europe, banks led an advance after a four-day break, with the FTSE 100 adding 1% in London. Germany’s DAX index gained 1.8%, and France’s CAC-40 rose 1.2%.

On Monday, Toronto stocks moved higher as financials gained strength and energy shares pared earlier losses.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 98.50 points, or 1.1% to close at 9,285.62,

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index rose 11.89 points, or 1.23%, to finish at 980.86.

In New York, markets closed flat.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 8,057.81, down 25.57 points or 0.3%. The broader S&P 500 closed at 858.73, up 2.17 points or 0.3%. The Nasdaq composite index rose just 0.77 of a point, or 0.05% , to 1,653.31.

After the bell, Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs posted higher-than-expected quarterly earnings, and said it plans to sell US$5 billion worth of common shares to help pay back government bailout funds.

IE