A series of positive earnings reports from heavyweights Yahoo and General Electric gave markets a boost Thursday morning, but stocks have since drifted lower. At midday, the S&P/TSX composite index is up 45 points at 8,853.

Volume is thin at just 92 million shares ahead of the Easter holidays. The markets are closed Friday for the Good Friday holiday.

The Canadian dollar sank almost a full U.S. cent after the March jobless report showed a rise in Canadian unemployment. The loonie tumbled 0.99¢ to US75.3¢ after Statistics Canada reported that the country’s economy lost 13,000 jobs in March, pushing the unemployment rate up to 7.5 per cent, from 7.4% in February. Most analysts had expected a job gain.

Technology stocks are ahead 0.64% following in response to Yahoo’s profit and news that Dell has raised its revenue forecast for its current quarter.

Nortel Networks is up 15¢ at $7.95, and Sierra Wireless has gained $1.37 to $56.13.

But RIM is of $2.41 at $138.75. Although it posted a stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and hiked forecasts as demand for its BlackBerry email device more than doubled sales, its shares are at a multi-year high and some experts call the stock too expensive.

Energy issues are up 1.10% as oil prices edged up after Wednesday’s reports showed that U.S. crude and gasoline inventories dropped last week.

Suncor Energy is up 58¢ to $34.83, and EnCana is up 58¢ cents at $58.24.

The financial group is ahead 1%.

In other business news Ontario Superior Court Justice James Farley extended Air Canada’s creditor protection until May 21.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index is up half a point to 1,882.

Positive earnings news and an unexpectedly big drop in weekly jobless claims have made their mark on Wall Street. As in Toronto, the major averages are off their session highs.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up 12 points at 10,492 and the S&P 500 is up three points at 1,144. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index is up 10 points at 2,061.

The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications filed for jobless claims declined by a seasonally adjusted 14,000 to 328,000 for the week ending April 3. That marked the lowest level since April 13, 2001.