Real gross domestic product (GDP) rebounded in April, increasing by 0.4% after declines in February and March, Statistics Canada reported today.

There were increases in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade as well as the financial sector, and declines in construction, oil and gas extraction and exploration.

During the first quarter of 2008, GDP of the manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade industries were affected by some temporary setbacks in the motor vehicle industry and inclement weather.

The Canadian dollar opened at US98.91¢, off 0.04 cent from Friday.

Meanwhile, price of oil probed new highs above US$143 a barrel on Monday and Wall Street index futures pointed to a weak opening.

Light sweet crude went as high as US$143.67 and traded later up US$3.26 at US$143.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.8 near midday in London, while Germany’s DAX index fell 0.9% and the Paris CAC-40 slipped 0.1%.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.5%, or 62.98 points to 13,481.38.

The Shanghai composite Index closed down 0.45% at 2,736.10 points.

On Friday, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s benchmark index closed with modest gains on Friday, propped up by resource issues.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite rallied 40.03 points, or 1.57%, to end at 2,593.40.

In New York, U.S. stocks fell again, continuing Thursday’s rout, and pushing the Dow to the brink of a bear market.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 106.91 points, or 0.93%, to end at 11,346.51. During the session, the Dow dropped below 11,331.62, or more than 20% below its Oct. 9 closing high.

The S&P 500 slipped 4.77 points, or 0.37%, to close at 1,278.38, while the Nasdaq composite index dipped 5.74 points, or 0.25%, to 2,315.63.

For the week, the Dow fell 4.2%, the S&P 500 fell 3%, and the Nasdaq fell 3.8%.