Stocks are pointing to a bargain hunting rally at Thursday’s open. Technology stocks such as IBM, Intel and AT&T are particularly popular in the pre-market as traders look for opportunities in recent market turmoil.

The corporate news isn’t that much better today though. Cap Gemini is said to be cutting 5,500 jobs or 10% of its workforce due to a slow rebound. Motorola is slashing another 7,000 jobs from its payroll, and taking a US$3.5 billion restructuring charge. It’s also being reported that Deutsche Bank AG is contemplating more job cuts. too.

And, Merck & Co. is delaying its initial public offering of its Medco Health Solutions Inc. unit. It is also cutting the pricing on the deal.

In economic news, the U.S. GDP grew at an annual rate of 6.1% in the first quarter. Also, U.S. initial jobless claims fell to 388,000 last week.

In Canada, it was reported that manufacturers’ prices declined 2.6% in May compared with May 2001, the eighth consecutive year-over-year decline. Petroleum and coal product prices fell 16.5% in May. If their prices had been excluded, the IPPI would have decreased 1.6% instead of 2.6%. Also, manufacturers paid 5.4% less for their raw materials than they did in May 2001.

Stocks are rebounding already in Europe. The FTSE is up 30 points to 4,561. The CAC 40 has added 80 points to 3,781. The DAX is up 120 points to 4,218.

Overnight in Asia stocks also made back some of yesterday’s losses. The Nikkei finished 187 points higher at 10,262. The Hang Seng Added 162 points to close at 10,518.

In other news, Emco announced that diluted earnings per share for the second quarter are expected to be in the range of 45¢ to 55¢ per share versus 27¢ per share last year. This is a result of continuing positive trends in margin enhancement, expense management and strong demand for certain manufactured roofing products.

Gildan Activewear Inc. has acquired all of the fixed assets of the yarn-spinning facility formerly operated by Canadian Fidelity Mills Ltd. The assets were purchased from Fidelity’s secured creditors following its recent bankruptcy filing for approximately $6.5 million.

Call-Net Enterprises Inc. says that in light of the recent CRTC price cap decisions it is slowing the introduction of competitive residential telephone service in certain markets and delaying the introduction of other competitive services. It will cut 350 jobs as a result.