North American stocks appear headed for a mixed start Thursday as rising oil prices overshadowed upbeat reports on the U.S. trade deficit.

Crude-oil prices were up 66¢ to US$64.60 a barrel in early trading Thursday amid market jitters over Iran’s nuclear development and on traders’ convictions that economic growth will cause energy consumption to rise.

In this morning’s economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit fell 5.8% to US$64.21 billion in November from a revised record high of $68.13 billion in October. The decline was sharper than Wall Street’s prediction of a US$66.50 billion trade gap.

Here at home, Statistics Canada said a drop in merchandise exports for the first time in nine months pushed Canada’s trade surplus with the rest of the world lower in November. The government agency said the surplus came in at $6.9 billion, down from $7.2 billion in October.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Labor Department said initial jobless claims increased by 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted level of 309,000 in the week ended Jan. 7. Economists had forecast an increase of 24,000 claims.

The department also said December import prices dropped 0.2%, after falling 1.8% in November. Wall Street had called for a rise of 0.1% in import prices.

In M&A news, Guidant accepted a US$23.2 billion takeover offer from Johnson & Johnson, a US$1.7 billion increase from a deal J&J nearly abandoned two months ago. The agreement sets the stage for a bidding war with Boston Scientific.

In earnings news, Corus Entertainment Inc. is sharply increasing its dividend after posting a higher first-quarter profit of $31.4 million.

On an annual basis, the dividend on the Class A and Class B shares will increase to 39¢ and 40¢, respectively, up from 9¢ and 10¢, respectively, the company said today.

Overseas, the second earnings warning from France Telecom in four months, weighed on European stock markets. The European Central Bank held its key interest rate steady in a move widely expected by analysts.

Advancing technology shares led stocks in Tokyo and higher. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index advanced 81.6 points, or 0.5%, to 16,445.19 — its highest close since Sept. 20, 2000.

Toronto stocks ended higher Wednesday, despite a modest retreat in the energy sector, on the strength of financials and the telecommunications services sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index gained 23.42, or 0.20%, to 11,621.03.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index finished up 13.44 point, or 0.58%, to 2,326.08.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks rose on as brokerages raised their price targets on Apple Computer Inc., helping the Nasdaq to its seventh straight gain.

The Dow industrials ended up 31.86 points at 11,043.44, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 11.04 points to 2,331.36, while the S&P 500 Index gained 4.49 points to 1,294.18.

Apple shares hit a record high of US$84.80 after Banc of America Securities raised its price target for the stock on estimates for higher sales of the iPod music player.