North American stocks are looking to continue their rally Thursday amid a glut of earnings releases and one day after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments helped spark a broad rally.

Bernanke told Congress on Wednesday that while high oil prices remain a concern, a slowing of the U.S. economy could provide the necessary ingredient to limit price increases.

Traders took that as a signal that the Fed may be finished hiking interest rates.

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index shot up 147.89 points, or 1.29%, to 11,619.58. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average jumped 212.9 points.

In today’s earnings news, Apple Computer said strong sales of its Macintosh computers helped lift its profit for the fiscal third quarter by 48%, a sign the company has successfully weathered a major technological transition to personal computers powered by Intel chips.

Nokia’s net profit rose 43% in the second quarter, driven by strong sales of high-end cellphones that include cameras, music players and offer Internet access.

Motorola said its profit increased 48% and sales rose 29% to US$10.88 billion, thanks to the company’s growing share of the global handset business.

Not all the earnings news was positive, though

Ford Motor reported a quarterly net loss, due to the costs of shedding personnel as part of its restructuring plan, and as high gasoline prices sapped demand for its trucks and sport-utility vehicles. Revenue fell 5.8%.

Intel posted a 57% plunge in second-quarter profit and indicated that its price war with rival Advanced Micro Devices could continue to take a toll on the current quarter.

Pfizer’s net income fell 30% in the second quarter as higher product sales failed to compensate for revenue losses due to patent expirations.

In today’s economic news, the U.S. Labor Department said initial jobless claims decreased by 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 304,000 in the week ended July 15. The dropoff was largely due to a decline in claims related to the automobile industry, the department said. Economists expected jobless claims to fall by 17,000.

Data on the U.S. leading indicators for June and the July Philadelphia Fed survey are due.

Crude-oil prices rose 37¢ to US$73.03 a barrel early Thursday as the market adjusted after dropping sharply the previous day on an unexpected increase in U.S. gasoline supplies.

The Canadian dollar opened at US88.26¢, up 0.14 of a cent.


Overseas, Asian shares surged Thursday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index jumped 446.58 points, or 3.0%, to 14,946.84 points.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 375.08 points, or 2.3%, to 16,472.62.

European shares were also higher.

On Wednesday the S&P/TSX composite index shot up 147.89 points, or 1.29%, to 11,619.58.


Swiss giant Xstrata raised its offer for miner Falconbridge Ltd. to $63.25 a share, up from $59. Falconbridge gained $1.34, or 2.16%, to $63.38.

The junior S&P/TSX venture composite index rose 25.47 points, or 1.02%, to 2,534.57.

In New York, the Dow industrials surged 212.19 points, or 2%, to close at 11,011.42. The Nasdaq composite index gained 37.49 points, or 1.8% to finish at 2,080.71, while the S&P 500 Index rose 22.95 points, or 1.9%, to end at 1,259.81.