Stocks are set to open flat Wednesday, as investors exercise caution ahead of first-quarter earnings reports.

Prices of imported goods in the U.S. rose for a sixth consecutive month in March as energy prices rebounded, suggesting the global economic recovery is steadily dispelling the risk of deflation.

Overall import prices rose 0.9% in March after a 0.4% gain in February, the Labor Department said Wednesday. The acceleration reflected resurgent petroleum prices, which climbed 6.1%. Prices of non-petroleum imports rose just 0.2%, half the rate in February. Wall Street had expected an uptick of between 0.4% and 0.7%.

Although there are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today, traders are eagerly awaiting Canada’s March employment report, which will be released on Thursday.

European stocks have higher midday Wednesday in quiet thin pre-Easter weekend trading. In Paris, the CAC 40 is up 0.4% to 3,762.54. Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax Index is up 0.5% at 4,029.89. In London, the FTSE 100 is up 0.6% at 4,498.10.

Asian markets finished mostly higher overnight, but prices fell in Tokyo as traders sold technology issues. The Nikkei declined 60.08 points, or 0.5%, to 12,019.62.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index climbed 33.08 points, or 0.26%, to 12,920.05.

On Tuesday, a disappointing forecast from cellphone giant Nokia Corp. spooked investors on both sides of the border, ending three days of consecutive gains on some markets.

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index finished the day down 25.78 points or 0.29% to 8,832.71, while the TSX Venture Exchange managed to eke out a gain of 1.78 points or 0.09% at 1,879.81.

In New York, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index closed down 19.22 or 0.92% at 2,059.9, ending three days of gains, which had taken the tech-focused index to a six-week high.

The broader S&P 500 index finished off 2.4 points or 0.21% to 1,148.17. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average, which had been down much of the day, finished on the positive side, up 12.44 or 0.12% to 10,570.81.