North American stocks may open weaker Thursday, with Merck expected to decline after a legal setback and U.S. retailers under pressure amid lackluster March sales.

Merck may see pressure after a jury in New Jersey delivered a split decision late Tuesday in the cases of two men who said they suffered heart attacks after taking Vioxx. The jurors found Merck liable for one of two former Vioxx users’ heart attacks and ordered he receive US$4.5 million in damages.

U.S. retailers are also in focus as March same-store sales figures were unveiled. Cooler temperatures and a later Easter gave consumers little incentive to shop last month and left retailers with tepid sales for the second month in a row.

In U.S. data, weekly jobless claims unexpectedly fell by 5,000 to 299,000, the Labor Department said, in what could be a sign the job market is tightening.

Here at home, Construction intentions rebounded in February as gains in non-residential building permits more than offset a second consecutive monthly decline in Canada’s housing sector.

Statistics Canada said municipalities issued $5.2 billion in building permits in February, up 3.6% from the previous month. The total value of building permits has now been on an upward trend since the beginning of 2004.

The Canadian dollar opened at US86.4¢, up 0.33 of a cent.

Crude oil futures continued to climb Thursday, gaining 67¢ to US$67.74 a barrel in electronic trading ahead of the opening of pit trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In business news, Sears Holdings Corp. declared victory in its US$18-a-share bid to take over Sears Canada. The U.S.-based retailer said Thursday it has reached agreements with shareholders owning more than 50% of the Sears Canada stock that Sears Holdings didn’t already own.

The UK FTSE 100 hit a new five-year high, led by Vodafone Group after the mobile operator announced a management shuffle.

The Bank of England and the European Central Bank both left rates unchanged, in moves widely expected, but traders will be looking for hints of an increase in May from the ECB, which raised rates at in March and December.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo climbed 1.4%.

Toronto stocks rallied Wednesday, setting another all-time high, with broad gains across the market sectors, especially resources and telecommunications services.

The S&P/TSX composite index was up 125.02, or 1.03%, to 12,299.12, which broke the record set on Monday, 12,210.86.
The S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 54.82 points, or 1.87%, to 2,989.72.

In New York, markets hit record highs as investors anticipated positive first-quarter earnings news.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 35.70 points to 11,239.55, its third-straight positive session. The Nasdaq composite Index rose 14.39 points to 2,359.75, a new five-year high. The S&P 500 added 5.63 points to 1,311.56, its best close since May 2001.