Stocks look set to open mixed this morning. Although much of the recent tech optimism is receding, news of steelmakers raising prices has increased optimism for that sector and old economy firms generally.

There’s some expectation that US Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan may signal that the rate cutting is over at a speech later today in San Francisco.

In economic news, the U.S. Producer Price Index came in down 0.7% on the headline in December. It dropped 0.1% on the core rate too, excluding food and energy.

In Canada, employment was reported down by an estimated 18,000 in December. A large increase in labour force participation, combined with the losses to push the unemployment rate up 0.5 percentage points to 8.0%, the highest since the spring of 1999.

After large gains in 2000, there was little job growth throughout 2001. From December 2000 to December 2001, employment rose only 25,000, and the gain was all in part-time jobs (45,000). Full-time employment edged down 20,000.

In Europe stocks are mixed, too. Techs are weighing on the market, while steels are rallying. Usinor SA is leading the price raising, and there’s word that other European firms may follow suit. On balance, London’s FTSE is down eight points to 5,182. In Paris, the CAC 40 is up 23 ticks to 4,539, while Germany’s DAX is down eight points to 5,220.

Stocks closed the week down in Asia as well. However, the yen actually recovered some of its early losses. The Nikkei shed 97 points to finish at 10,441. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 90 points to close at 11,166.

In other news, Suncor Energy Inc. today released its guidance report for the fourth quarter of 2001. Net earnings are expected to be about 70% to 75% lower than the third quarter of 2001.

Also, Rogers Sugar Income Fund announced that its offering of subscription receipts has been increased by $10 million to $85 million. The receipts are being sold to a syndicate of underwriters led by CIBC World Markets Inc. Closing is expected on January 31.