U.S. stock futures pointed to a strong open Thursday, building on yesterday’s big gains.

In today’s earnings news. J.P. Morgan Chase beat expectations by posting a 53% fall in net income to US$2 billion as credit-loss provisions more than doubled.

After the bell, Merrill Lynch will post its second-quarter results. The Wall Street investment bank has reached a deal to sell its 20% stake in Bloomberg LP as it looks to raise fresh capital.

Results are also due after the close from tech giants Google, Microsoft and IBM.

Oil prices continued to ease Thursday. The near-month contract for light sweet crude was down US$1.17 at US$133.43 per barrel after going as low as US$133.02 overnight.

Here at home, Statistics Canada reported that foreign demand for Canadian securities remained strong in May as investment in new Canadian bonds accelerated. Meanwhile, Canadian investors continued to add a sizeable amount of foreign securities to their portfolios, largely equities.

The Canadian dollar opened at US99.86¢, up 0.08 cent from Wednesday.

In Canadian earnings news, Nexen Inc. reported a 48% rise in second-quarter sales to $2.07 billion on flat production. Net income increased only 3% from a year earlier to $380 million because of a big charge for stock-based compensation, along with higher British taxes and the impact of the weaker U.S. dollar.

Overseas, the FTSE 100 index was up 2.5% early in the afternoon in London, while the German DAX rose 2.4% and the Paris CAC-40 gained 2.6%.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index rose one% to 12,887.95 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 2.4% to 21,734.72.

But China’s benchmark Shanghai composite Index declined 0.8% to 2,684.78 on inflation fears.

A rally in banking shares pushed the benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange ahead nearly 150 points on Wednesday, offsetting a weak showing by energy and materials stocks.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 146.24 points, or 1.09%, to close at 13,503.80.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index slipped 1.32 points, or 0.06%, to 2,308.76.

In New York, U.S. stock rallied as unexpectedly strong results from Wells Fargo & Co. and falling oil prices relieved worries about the impact of the credit crisis on the U.S. financial sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average 276.74 points, or 2.52%, to 11,239.28, while the S&P 500 gained 30.45 points, or 2.51%, to 1,245.36. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index jumped up 69.14 points, or 3.12%, to 2,284.85.