North American markets are likely to open mixed as investors respond to divergent reports on the Canadian and U.S economies.

The U.S. economy grew at a slower-than-expected in the third quarter while Canada’s economy grew by 0.5%in August, beating the expectations of economists.

August’s growth was an improvement from the 0.2% rate seen in July, Statistics Canada said.

U.S. economic growth rose to a 3.7% rate in the third quarter, but fell short of forecasts as improved consumer spending was offset by slower paces for both inventory building and exports.

Gross domestic product increased at a 3.7% annual rate, the Commerce Department said today. That topped the 3.3% rate recorded in the final second-quarter reading but fell well short of the 4.3% economists had expected.

Meanwhile, U.S. inflation slowed sharply during the quarter. The government’s price index for personal consumption rose at a 1.1% rate, down from a 3.1% pace in the second quarter.

Later this morning, the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index is released to subscribers around 9:45 ET. The index is seen down to 88.0 in October from 94.2 in the prior month. The National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago is due to release the purchasing managers index for October at 10:00 ET. The centre of economists forecasts is for a decline to 59.0 from 61.3 in the prior month.

The prospect of a slowdown in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies cooled North American stocks markets on Thursday.

At close, the S&P/TSX fell 9.96 points or 0.11% to 8,781.04, while the TSX Venture Exchange lost 9.18 or 0.56% at 1,622.91.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average managed to keep its winning streak alive with a meagre gain of 2.51 points or 0.03% at 10,004.54, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 5.75 points or 0.29% at 1,975.04 and the S&P 500 was ahead by 2.04 points or 0.18% at 1,127.44.

The Canadian dollar gained 0.16 of a cent to US81.71¢.

The catalyst for the markets was the surprise decision by China’s central bank on Thursday that it had raised interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.

The higher borrowing costs in China threaten to slacken demand for commodities, such as oil and minerals. China’s announcement helped send crude oil futures fell to a three-week low in New York. Crude oil for December delivery fell $1.51, or 2.9%, to US$50.95 a barrel at the close of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil dropped to $50.82, the lowest price since Oct. 6.