Stock markets rebounded Thursday despite a mix of good news and bad news about the U.S. and Canadian economies.

At midday, the S&P/TSX composite was up 40.51 or 0.49% at 8357.6, while the TSX Venture Exchange was ahead by 1.56 or 0.1% to 1550.88. In New York, the Dow industrial average was ahead 25.69 points or 0.25% at 10394.13. The Nasdaq was up 4.97 or 0.25% to 1995.58, and the S&P 500 was up 3.49 points or 0.31% at 1134.82.

The Canadian dollar turned around to trade up 0.04¢ at US73.66¢ after dropping more than half a U.S. cent Wednesday.

Canadian investors may have been buoyed by a Statistics Canada report that housing prices continued to climb in most areas of the country during April, reaching a 14-year high on a 12-month basis. Statistics Canada’s new-housing price index advanced 0.7% in April, up from March’s increase of 0.3%. The agency also announced first-quarter industrial capacity use rose to 83.5 per cent, with some industries near limits.

In the U.S., however, two economic reports before the open stirred worries about the economy. U.S. jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week, while import prices rose more than anticipated in May as oil costs surged, the government said. The jump in import prices added to fears that the Federal Reserve, which is expected to raise interest rates at a meeting June 30, will have to act more aggressively than expected.

Trading was on the quiet side ahead of a U.S. market shutdown Friday in honour of late president Ronald Reagan.

In London, shares dipped on Thursday as UK interest rates rose for the second time in two months. The FTSE 100 share index closed down 3.4 points at 4,486.1, after failing to break out of a range of 4,475 to 4,494 points, its tightest daily range for three months.