U.S. stocks were flat at the open Thursday as strong earnings from Nokia were balanced out by the surprisingly large increase in unemployment claims.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost about 9 points just after the opening bell, while the Nasdaq composite rose by a point. Prior to the release of the jobless report, S&P 500 futures had indicated the Dow industrials would rise 50 points.

U.S initial jobless claims climbed to 442,00. That’s 30,000 beyond expectations and a significant increase over last week’s 405,000. The four-week average climbed to an 11-month high of 424,750.

The only bit of economic data out in Canada this morning is much better. Statistics Canada is reporting that new motor vehicle sales rebounded 14.1% in February, making up almost all the ground lost in January.

After registering the largest drop in five years in January, automobile dealers sold 146,766 new vehicles in February, up 18,113 units from the previous month. The rebound in February pushed sales to a level 1.6% higher than the monthly average for 2002, a record year. February’s sizable increase was due to strong sales of North American-built passenger cars (+15.7%) and trucks in general (+18.6%).

Asian markets dropped during their Thursday trading, following a dip on Wall Street yesterday. Tokyo’s Nikkei slid 57.59 points, or 0.73%, to 7,821.9. The Nikkei was hauled down by losses in Sony, Canon and Kyocera.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 96 points, or 1.11%, to 8,579.14. Trading sentiment is lacklustre dues to the SARS outbreak. SARS has infected 1,297 people and killed at least 65 in Hong Kong.

In Europe stocks are up at midday. London’s FTSE 100 is up 1.04% Frankfurt’s DAX has climbed 2.25%. Paris’s CAC 40 is up 0.31%.

Stock markets in North America and Europe will be closed tomorrow for Good Friday.

In earnings news, Rogers Communications Inc. is reporting a $23.7-million profit in the first quarter. That reverses last year’s huge loss. All of its major divisions contributed to 14% growth in revenue. For the quarter ended March 31, net income hit 6¢ cents a share.