North American stocks are expected to open mixed Wednesday, with technology shares set to rise after Cisco Systems’ strong earnings and healthy sales outlook.

Late Tuesday, tech bellwether Cisco reported a 40% jump in profit and a 27% revenue gain for its fiscal second quarter. It also forecast higher-than-expected revenue growth for its current quarter.

On the economic front, U.S. productivity rebounded to a 3% rate in the fourth quarter, easing pressure on labor costs and suggesting that the economy can still generate strong growth without inflationary pressures. Economists had expected productivity to grow to 2.4% from 0.2%.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada.

The Canadian dollar opened at US84.52¢, down 0.03 of a cent.

In today’s earnings news, Tim Hortons Inc. reported that its fourth-quarter revenue increased 15.5% from a year earlier to $466.5 million, and net income of $67.9 million was quadruple the year-ago take which was depressed by one-time items.

BCE Inc. said its fourth-quarter net earnings soared 69% to $699 million after one-time gains and restructuring costs.

Abitibi-Consolidated Inc., which has agreed to merge with Bowater Inc., slashed its fourth-quarter loss to $22 million, from a year-earlier $355 million, thanks to a huge U.S. softwood lumber refund.

News Corp. posted a 24% drop in fiscal second-quarter net income after a year-earlier profit from selling an education publisher. The media company’s revenue increased 18% to $7.84 billion.

Cigna’s fourth-quarter profit jumped 10%, driven by higher medical memberships. The insurance company said consolidated revenue fell to $4.21 billion from $4.21 billion.

Crude-oil prices rose 29¢ to US$59.17 a barrel as bitter winter weather in the Northeast persisted ahead of a weekly petroleum inventories report.

Overseas, the FTSE 100 in London inched higher.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index lost 114.54 points, or 0.66%, to finish at 17,292.32 .

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 24.49 points, or 0.1%, to 20,679.69.

On Tuesday, The Toronto Stock Exchange set a new record high close, getting a lift from mining stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 16.64 points, or 0.1%, at 13,183.33, surpassing the previous record high close of 13,166.69 set on Monday.

The information-technology sector moved down 0.55%. Nortel Networks shares fell 63¢ to $30.70 after it said Peter Currie is quitting as chief financial officer, effective April 30.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index jumped 15.82 points, or 0.53%, to finish at 2,990.62.

In New York, U.S. markets ended marginally higher after oil prices backed off a session high near $60 a barrel.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 4.57 points, or 0.04%, to end at 12,666.31, while the S&P 500 Index added 1.01 points, or 0.07%, to reach 1,448.00. The Nasdaq composite index eked out a gain of 0.89 of a point, or 0.04%, to 2,471.49.