North American markets are expected to trade higher at the open Thursday, as traders prepare for more corporate earnings results.

In today’s earnings news, oil and gas company EnCana Corp. said its second-quarter earnings more than tripled to US$839 million, with cash flow up 45% and natural gas sales rising 6%.

DaimlerChrysler said its second-quarter net rose 28%, despite further restructuring costs at its Mercedes Car Group division, which posted a surprise profit. Separately, the German-U.S. auto maker said CEO Juergen Schrempp will leave by year end and be succeeded by Chrysler head Dieter Zetsche.

Late Wednesday, coffee shop chain Starbucks reported its fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 29% amid 7% same-store sales growth, leading the firm to boost its fiscal-year outlook.

In today’s economic news, Statistics Canada reported that monthly prices for manufactured goods at the factory gate were unchanged in June, following a slight decrease in May.

Raw materials prices were up in June after two months of decline, the government agency said.


The U.S. Labor Department said the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits rose by 5,000 last week. Initial jobless claims rose to 310,000 in the week ended July 23 from an upwardly revised 305,000 the week before. Economists had expected jobless claims to have increased by 12,000 to a level of 315,000 in the week.

The Canadian dollar opened at US80.84¢, down 0.03 of a cent. On Wednesday, the loonie dropped 0.46 of a cent.

Crude futures gained Thursday after the U.S. Department of Energy gave a mixed picture of U.S. petroleum stocks but suggested that it may raise its 2005 projection for oil demand. Light sweet crude for September delivery was up 19¢ to US$59.30 a barrel in on the New York Mercantile Exchange

Toronto stocks enjoyed a strong rally Wednesday, led by energy and financial issues. The S&P/TSX composite index finished up an impressive 132.78 points, or 1.28%, to close at 10,500.67.

The rally was broad based, as nine of the 10 TSX main sub-groups gained on the day.

The junior S&P/TSX venture exchange finished up 8.88 points, or 0.50%, to 1,774.43.

In New York, markets were up on positive economic results and stronger-than-expected second-quarter announcements from Boeing and Sprint.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 57.32, or 0.54%, to 10,637.09; the Nasdaq rose 10.23, to 2,186.22; the S&P 500 index lifted 5.63, or 0.46%, to close 1,236.79.

Investors were encouraged by the release of the US Federal Reserve’s “beige book”, which indicated the job market showed some improvements and that inflation appeared to be in check.