North American stocks make open lower Thursday following yesterday’s big rally, and a report that showed an increase in U.S. jobless claims.

In today’s economic news, the U.S. economy was stronger during the spring than earlier estimated.

Gross domestic product rose at a seasonally adjusted 4% annual rate, the U.S. Commerce Department said in a new, revised estimate of GDP in the second quarter, which included the period April through June. It was the strongest quarterly rate of GDP growth since 4.8% during the first three months of 2006.

Meanwhile, the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped last week to the highest level since April. Jobless claims rose 9,000 to 334,000 on a seasonally-adjusted basis in the week ended Aug. 25, the U.S. Labor Department said.

Here at home, Statistics Canada reported that Canada’s current account surplus with the rest of the world, on a seasonally adjusted basis, increased $2.2 billion in the second quarter to $8.4 billion. In the capital and financial account (not seasonally adjusted), the growth in Canada’s foreign assets significantly outpaced that in international liabilities.

Separately, StatsCan said falling prices for metals and the strength of the Canadian dollar drove the prices of manufactured products down for a third consecutive month in July, while a jump in crude oil prices pushed raw materials prices upward.

The Canadian dollar opened at US93.98¢, down 0.32 cent from Wednesday’s close.

In today’s earnings news, National Bank of Canada posted a third-quarter profit of $243 million, up 10% over the same period a year before, and said its expects to buy about $2 billion in short-term debt under a previously announced initiative to ease liquidity problems.

Freddie Mac, the U.S. home-mortgage financier recovering from a massive accounting scandal, posted a 45% drop in second-quarter net income as it took a US$320 million loss on new mortgages.

H&R Block posted a wider quarterly net loss and said it is negotiating possible changes on its agreement to sell its subprime-mortgage unit.

Sears Holdings, which narrowed its fiscal second quarter earnings estimate two weeks ago, posted a 40% drop in net income for the period, citing declining same-store sales at its Sears and Kmart chains.

Earnings are due from Del Monte Foods, Tiffany, Brown-Forman, and after the close, Dell.


Crude-oil futures rose four cents to US$73.55 a barrel, a day after weekly U.S. energy-inventory data showed crude stocks fell.

Overseas, France’s Credit Agricole and Natixis both exceeded earnings forecasts Thursday, sparking solid gains for the banks’ shares as they also played down exposure to U.S. subprime mortgage woes. The CAC 40 rose 0.8% in Paris, and the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.9% in Tokyo.

On Wednesday, the Toronto stock market broke away from a two-day losing streak Wednesday, as bargain hunting investors snapped up stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 225.25 points, or 1.7%, to close at 13,490.12. The jump reversed the 222-point plunge in Tuesday’s session.

All of the index’s 10 main groups advanced.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture Exchange was up 26.53 points to 2,589.46.

In New York, U.S. stocks also rebounded on Wednesday, pushing the Nasdaq to its best day in more than a year,

The release of a letter from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to Sen. Charles Schumer in which he said the central bank is “prepared to act as needed” if financial-market turmoil begins to harm the broader economy helped fuel a big rally. Bernanke is scheduled to give a speech on Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyo., and elaborate on the outlook.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 247.44 points, or 1.90%, at 13,289.29. The S&P 500 was up 31.40 points, or 2.19%, at 1,463.76. The Nasdaq composite index was up 62.52 points, or 2.50%, at 2,563.16 — its best day since June 29, 2006.