North American markets will likely open lower Tuesday as investors fret over the price of oil and disappointing U.S retail sales.

Crude oil prices are under pressure from hurricane Ivan and unrest in Iraq.

U.S. retail sales slipped in August, falling more than expected under the weight of weaker auto demand.

Retail sales decreased 0.3% last month, the Commerce Department said today. Sales in July rose 0.8%, revised up from a previously reported 0.7% advance. Economists had forecast a 0.1% dip in overall sales.

A 1.9% drop in motor vehicles and parts demand acted to push overall sales lower in August. July auto sales had gone up 2.2%

Without the auto component, retail sales would have gone up 0.2%.

Meanwhile, the U.S. current-account deficit increased to a record US$166.2 billion during April through June from a revised US$147.2 billion in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said.

The larger than expected increase came as imports of goods exceeded exports. Economists had predicted a gap of US$161.0 billion.

Here at home, Statistics Canada said new motor vehicle sales rose 2.3% in July after declining in May and June. Despite this increase, sales remained below the level reached in April 2004.

StatsCan said today that 133,240 vehicles rolled off dealers’ lots in July, an increase of 2,942 units compared with June.

Asian stock markets closed higher overnight. Tokyo’s Nikkei Stock rose 42.47 points, or 0.38%, to 11,295.58.

In Hong Kong, the key Hang Seng Index added 8.49 points, or 0.06%, to 13,148.06.

Toronto stocks closed up sharply Monday gaining a lift from rising technology and energy issues. The S&P/TSX composite index soared 144.80 points, or 1.7%, to 8,513.42.

All of the TSX groups advanced, led by a 2.5% climb in energy stocks. The heavily weighted financial group was up 2.4%, and the technology group rose 1.6%.

Energy stocks rose on the back of rising oil prices, as Hurricane Ivan approached the Gulf of Mexico and threatened to disrupt oil facilities where a quarter of U.S. oil and gas is produced.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 7.17 points to close at 1,513.65.

On Wall Street, gains in technology sector sent stocks modestly higher.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.69 points to 10,314.76. S&P 500 index was up 1.89 points at 1,125.81, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 16.07, or 0.8%, to 1,910.38.