North American stocks will likely open higher Thursday ahead of the Easter long weekend, buoyed by a strong outlook from General Electric.

GE raised its outlook for the first quarter on strong growth in its markets and a one-time gain from a planned secondary offering in its Genworth Financial insurance unit.

In today’s economic news, orders for U.S. durable goods increased 0.3% to US$200.81 billion in February after falling 1.1% in January, the U.S. Commerce Department said. January demand was earlier estimated dropping 1.3%.

February orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft — a barometer of business spending — fell 2.1%, after a 4.4% increase in January and a 3.4% climb in December.

The 0.3% move upward in overall orders last month was weaker than expected on Wall Street. Economists had predicted orders would climb by 0.6%.

Separately, the Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose by 3,000 to 324,000, after seasonal adjustments, in the week that ended March 19. The four-week average rose by 3,500 to a seven-week high of 321,750.

In business news, Royal Group Technologies Ltd. says company founder and ex-chairman Vic De Zen has agreed to repay more than $9.8 million and resign from the board of directors. The company is facing a criminal probe into corporate fraud and theft allegations.

In other earnings news, ATI Technologies is planning to buy back up to 10% of its shares after reporting its second-quarter profit rose to US$57 million, from US$50 million a year earlier.

Toronto stocks closed lower for the fourth straight session Wednesday as commodity prices retreated. The S&P/TSX composite index fell 97.55 points, or 1.01%, to end the day at 9,549.67.

The TSX energy group lost 2.1% of its value as oil prices lost more than US$2 a barrel.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 34.16 points, or 1.73%, to finish at 1,939.17

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 14.49 points, or 0.14%, to 10,456.02 as relief over lower oil prices was offset by concern over the implications of higher inflation.

The U.S. government reported that the CPI rose by a larger-than-expected 0.4% in February.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 0.88 points to 1,990.22, while the broader S&P 500 edged up 0.82 of a point to 1,172.53.