North American stocks looks set to open higher Wednesday the Dow Jones industrial average fell sharply in the previous session.

Crude-oil futures meanwhile rose 34¢ to US$61.75 a barrel in electronic trading ahead of U.S. inventory data that’s expected again to show growing energy supplies.

In today’s economic news, U.S. personal income increased more than expected in January at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.7%, after climbing a revised 0.5% in December, the U.S. Commerce Department said. Consumer spending made its largest climb in six months, growing 0.9%, after a revised 0.7% increase the month before, reflecting the solid gain in auto sales.

Here at home, Statistics Canada said monthly prices for manufactured goods at the factory gate were up in January, as prices for petroleum and primary metal products increased. Raw materials prices also rose in January, due to higher prices for crude oil.

The Canadian dollar opened at US87.82¢, down 0.16 of a cent.

On Tuesday, the loonie settled at a 14-year high of US87.98¢.

Later this morning, the U.S. Institute of Supply Management’s manufacturing survey is expected to rise in February to 56.0% from 54.8%, ending a three-month slide. Data on construction spending will be released at the same time.

In today’s earnings news, Talisman Energy Inc. said its fourth-quarter earnings soared 340% to $533 million thanks to high fuel prices. The company reported new quarterly and annual records for production, cash flow and earnings from operations.

In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 1.5% lower in Tokyo, while European stock markets edged higher. The German DAX 30 index, the French CAC 40 index and the UK’s FTSE 100 index all rose 0.3%.

Toronto stocks finished slightly lower Tuesday as an afternoon rally in the energy sector offset declines in the tech group.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 18.13 points, or 0.15%, to 11,688.34.

Overall, six of the 10 TSX main groups lost ground as the Canadian dollar rose to a new 14-year high against the U.S. greenback, boosted by solid fourth-quarter growth data in Canada and weaker-than-expected regional U.S. economic data.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 11.52 points, or 0.45%, to 2,531.81.

U.S. stocks fell hard on Tuesday after data showed signs of weakness in the U.S. economy, and Google warned that growth was slowing.

Google shares suffered their second-worst one-day loss ever, dropping 7.1% to US$362.62. Earlier, it fell as low as US$338.51.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 104.14 points, or 0.94%, at 10,993.41. The S&P 500 was down 13.46 points, or 1.04%, at 1,280.66. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index was down 25.79 points, or 1.12%, at 2,281.39.