Indicators were mixed for North American stock markets early Tuesday. Investment bank Goldman Sachs reported recorded first-quarter earnings, while U.S. retail sales weakened in February.

In this morning’s economic news, rising oil prices pushed the current-account deficit, the broadest measure of U.S. international trade, to US$804.9 billion last year, up 20.5% from 2004. U.S. retail sales fell 1.3% in February amid a drop in demand for new cars.

Here at home, Statistics Canada said new motor vehicle sales started the year on a positive note, increasing for the third time in four months in January.

The Canadian dollar opened at US86.15¢, down 0.24 of a cent.

Reporting season for Wall Street investment banks kicked off today. Goldman Sachs reported record earnings for its fiscal first quarter on strong results in its trading and investment banking divisions. Earnings rose 64% on US$10.34 billion in net revenue

In M&A news, water treatment technology firm Zenon Environmental Inc., based in Oakville, Ont., has agreed to be acquired by a division of General Electric in a deal worth about $760 million.

GE Water & Process Technologies will buy Zenon for $24 per share in cash, the companies announced today.

CHC Helicopter Corp. said its controlling shareholder has held preliminary talks about a potential $188 million takeover offer from two unaffiliated private-equity firms. The company also reported late Monday it earned $24 million in its third quarter, up from $22.8 million in the same period a year earlier.

Le Chateau Inc. put itself up for sale today. The clothing retailer said it is evaluating “various strategic alternatives,” including a sale, merger or capital reorganization.

Overseas, markets in Tokyo were lower, with the Nikkei 225 index losing 0.8%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 0.14%.

European markets were mixed. the German DAX 30 eased 0.3%, the French CAC 40 declined 0.1% and the U.K. FTSE 100 added 0.1%.

Toronto stocks moved higher Monday, as a surge in oil and gold prices buoyed the overall market.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 73.04 points, or 0.62%, to 11,906.65.

CIBC tentatively agreed to buy a majority stake in FirstCaribbean International Bank for nearly $1.26 billion. CIBC shares rose 62¢, or 0.73%, to $83.78.

In economic news, Statistics Canada reported that industries were operating about 86.3% of their capacity in the final quarter of 2005, slightly 0.2% higher than in the third quarter last year.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 20.10 points, or 2,588.93, to 2,588.93.

In New York, markets were generally flat as investors weighed two big corporate acquisitions against higher resource prices and lingering inflation worries.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed practically unchanged, down 0.32 of a point to 11,076.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index ended up 4.99 points at 2,267.03, while the S&P 500 Index rose 2.55 points to 1,284.13.