Stocks are pointing to a modestly positive opening this morning on some encouraging economic news in the U.S.

U.S. GDP came in up at a 5.8% annual rate for the first quarter. This is its fastest growth in two years, and signals that the U.S. recession is probably over.

There’s no major economic news from Canada this morning, although it was reported that average weekly earnings increased in February, up 2.1% from February 2001.

Average weekly hours and average overtime hours were virtually unchanged from January. Payrolls rose 18,000, led by manufacturing (+5,000), wholesale trade (+5,000) and retail trade (+4,000).

There’s not much corporate news getting in the way of the stronger economic view this morning. VeriSign Inc. has cut its earnings forecast, and U.S. Steel has reported that it had a first quarter loss of US$89 million.

In Europe, stocks are mixed this morning. U.K. markets are down after it was reported that Britain’s economy grew only a little in the first quarter, suggesting that recovery there will be slow. Chemical giant Bayer AG said that it sees no signs of recovery. The FTSE is down 37 points to 5,160. The CAC 40 has gained 15 points to 4,471. The DAX is up nine points to 5,064.

Overnight in Asia, stocks closed the week lower. The Nikkei dropped 107 points to 11,541. The Hang Seng lost 24 ticks to 11,385.

In M&A news, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP is said to have tabled a competing bid for Arthur Andersen LLP’s U.S. tax business. Deloitte & Touche LLP is already in the running for this business.

In other news, COGNICASE Inc. announced that John Valentini, its EVP and CFO, is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. Michel Demers, director of finance, will assume the CFO functions until a replacement is found.