North American markets finished higher for the most part, fuelled by bullish economic news in the U.S.

The Toronto Stock Exchange S&P/TSX composite index gained 32.28 points to close at 7,959.88. Mining, industrial and consumer discretionary sectors led the way. The TSX Venture Exchange composite index fell less than a point to 1711.68. Volume was 302.5 million on the TSE and 93.5 million of the TSXV.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average took off early after two economic reports provided signals the U.S. economy is gaining strength. The Dow was up nearly 80 points at mid-day before profit-taking kicked in. It finished the day up 20.37 points or 0.21% to 9874.01. The last time the Dow broke above 10000 was May 31, 2002.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed down 19.94 points or 1% to 1960.13. Earlier in the session it rose above 2000 — a key psychological level it has had not traded above since Jan. 15, 2002. The broadly based S&P 500 index fell 1.68 points or 0.16% to 1,064.93.

The U.S. dollar continued to flounder against major foreign currencies. The euro rose to US$1.2131, another record high, before settling to US$1.2104, while the Canadian dollar fell to US76.95¢ from US77.04¢ on Tuesday.

In corporate news, Laurentian Bank of Canada said it earned $50.7 million for the three months ended Oct. 31 vs $15.9 million for the same period a year earlier. Total revenues for the quarter were $200.8 million, up from $143.8 million in 2002. However, excluding the gain on the sale of branches and restructuring charges incurred during the quarter, net income in the fourth-quarter would have been $6.6 million .

Laurentian CEO Raymond McManus outlined a three-year plan to grow its business in Quebec, including opening 20 new branches by 2006 and increasing the number of automated banking machines by 10 per cent in the first year of the plan. Laurentian hopes to increase revenues by an average of 6% a year. Laurentian stock fell $1.22 to $27.95

Laurentian subsidiary B2B Trust reported fourth-quarter profit $3.3 million vs $4.5 million for the same period in 2002.

Clarington Corp. said it has priced its initial public offering at about $67.6 million. The Toronto-based fund company is going public via a secondary offering. It has priced the deal at $13.50 per share and is selling slightly more than five million shares for total proceeds of $67,636,647. The deal is being led by Scotia Capital Inc., with participation from RBC Dominion Securities Inc., BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., CIBC World Markets Inc., National Bank Financial Inc. and TD Securities Inc.

Also, an Ontario appeal court has ruled in a split decision that a lower court judge was wrong to strike out portions of an amended defence filed by ING Canada Inc. in its suit with Transamerica Life Canada Inc. The action involves a claim by Transamerica and Aegon Canada Inc. to recover substantial damages for misrepresentation and breach of warranties and covenants contained in a share purchase agreement under which Transamerica purchased all of the shares of NN Life Insurance Company of Canada from ING.

In other news, Bombardier Inc. said it will shut down plants and lay off workers at its rail division in Europe to improve profit margins. The company as a whole earned $184.8 million in the three months ended Oct. 31 vs $181 million in the year-earlier period.

At Reitmans (Canada) Ltd., same-store sales slipped but the company posted a 4% gain in total sales and a 54% rise in earnings in its third quarter, and raised its dividend by 40%. The Montreal-based national clothing retailer said sales in the three months ended Nov. 1 were $215.7 million vs $207.3 million.

Grocer Sobeys Inc. says it is buying the assets of the Commisso’s group of companies in Southern Ontario for $65-million. The Stellarton, N.S.-based company said the deal to buy the assets of Commisso’s Food Markets Ltd. and Commisso’s Grocery Distributors Ltd. will give it 15 stores, six cash-and-carry site as well as a wholesale business and distribution centre.

In the U.S. the Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed three new rules to address late trading, market timing and related abuses in the mutual fund industry. One of the rules would effectively eliminate the potential for late trading through intermediaries that sell fund shares.