U.S. stock market futures pointed to a positive opening Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut interest rates by a quarter point, and suggested more confidence about the financial system’s recovery.

As well, the Bank of England signalled that the worst of the credit crisis may be over and that the correction in credit markets has gone too far.

In today’s earnings news, Comcast Corp., largest cable operator in the U.S.,reported a 12.5% decline in first-quarter profits from a year ago, when the company’s earnings were inflated by a US$300 million one-time gain.

U.S. pharmacy chain CVS Caremark said its first-quarter profit jumped 83%, helped by increased same-store sales for its CVS/pharmacy unit.

Starbucks Corp. reported fiscal second-quarter profit sank 28% as U.S. consumers responded to rising food and gas prices.


Here at home, there are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada.

The Canadian dollar opened at US99.06¢, down 0.23 of a cent from Wednesday’s close.

Late Wednesday, Tim Hortons Inc.reported a first-quarter profit of $61.8 million and announced a reorganization of its executive suite that will result in a $3.8-million charge in its second quarter.

Light, sweet crude fell 26¢ to $113.20 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday morning.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.60% to 13,766.86.

In morning trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.35% to 6,108.60. Other European markets were closed for a holiday.

The S&P/TSX Composite index closed up 109.94 points, or 0.80%, at 13,935.54 on Wednesday, as seven of the 10 major TSX groups gained today.

As well, shares in TSX Group Inc. rose $1.82, or 4.5%, to close at $42.30, after it announced that Q1 profit fell 10% due to a $15.2-million payment to International Securities Exchange Holdings Inc. to get out of a planned merger deal. Excluding that deal breaker cost, the company said profit increased 36%. TSX Group’s merger with Montreal Exchange is set to close May 1.

The Canadian dollar closed at US99.29¢, up 0.47 of a cent from yesterday’s close, after Statistics Canada reported that GDP declined 0.2% for the month, continuing at a much lower pace than in the first half of 2007.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index closed up 22.17 points, or 0.91%, at 2455.06.

In New York, markets reversed early gains after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut rates, as some analysts felt the central bank hinted toward a break in its cutting cycle.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 11.81 points, or 0.09%, at 12,820.13.

The S&P 500 fell 5.35 points, or 0.38%, to close at 1,385.59.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed down 13.30 points, or 0.55%, at 2,412.80.