North American stock market look likely to open flat after a three-day break, as oil prices above US$70 a barrel offset mostly positive earnings from U.S. banking giant Citigroup.

Crude-oil prices were near US$70 a barrel, with the front-month contract up 47¢ to US$69.79 a barrel in electronic trading. In overnight trading in Asia, crude futures hit US$70 for the first time in intraday trading since February 1.

Other commodities also surged, amid concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. June Gold futures jumped $9.10 to US$609.20 an ounce in electronic trading after reaching a contract high of US$610.10 earlier in the session.

In earnings news, Citigroup reported first-quarter earnings rose 3.6% to US$5.64 billion, or $1.12 a share, beating expectations. However, analysts had expected revenue of US$23.2 billion, which Citigroup fell short of by a billion. The New York firm also said it planned an additional US$10 billion in share buybacks.

Among other U.S. banks, Wachovia reported its first quarter profit rose 7% from the year-ago period, boosted by higher overall revenue and fee income. SunTrust also posted a higher net income, beating analysts’ expectations.

In other news, Penn West Energy Trust and Petrofund Energy Trust have entered an agreement to merge and create an oil and gas trust with a combined value of more than $11 billion, the two Calgary-based energy trusts said Sunday.

The Canadian dollar opened at US87.18¢, up 0.28 of a cent from Thursday’s close. Just before the Good Friday holiday, the loonie had fallen 0.34 of a cent.

Overseas, an extended Easter holiday weekend in some European markets kept trading volumes light.

In Asia, stock prices in Tokyo were weighed down by worries about interest rates and oil costs.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 233.46 points, or 1.35%, to 17,000.36 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The stock market in Hong Kong was closed.

Toronto stocks closed higher Thursday powered by resource issues and financials. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 80.89 points, or 0.66%, to 12,248.59, ending the week down 0.33%.


The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index rose 26.14, or 0.87%, to 3,030.84.

In New York, markets made modest gains as good economic data was offset by higher oil prices.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 7.68 points at 11,137.65, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 11.43 points to 2,326.11, while the S&P 500 Index managed a 1 point gain to 1,289.12.

On the week, the Dow rose 0.2%, the S&P 500 fell 0.5% and the Nasdaq gave up 0.6%.