Stocks are looking at a positive open this morning, led by the techs once again.

One of the world’s biggest chipmakers, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., said it saw its sales jump 45% in April. This news is boosting techs generally.

However, there are reports that IBM may be cutting 9,600 jobs, suggesting that it isn’t seeing a turnaround yet.

There’s also some encouraging economic news in the market. Canada’s powerful jobs market continues to roll along. Employment increased by 37,000 in April, stronger than expected, bringing gains over the last four months to 207,000. The unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 7.6% in April. This employment strength in Canada comes in sharp contrast to the weakness in the U.S. April’s increase was concentrated in full-time employment too, particularly in transportation and warehousing.

Also, the New Housing Price Index rose 0.4% in March. This index of contractors’ selling prices now stands 3.3% higher compared with the same period a year earlier. This is the highest year-over-year increase since May 1990.

In the U.S., the Producer Price Index unexpectedly fell 0.2% in April, although the core rate was up 0.1%. The market generally likes the news, suggesting that inflation is well under control.

In Europe, stocks are generally weaker, led by weak telecoms. Vodafone Group plc has seen its analyst opinions cut. And, Deutsche Bank AG’s credit rating was cut by one notch by Standard & Poor’s.

The FTSE is down four points to 5,194. The CAC 40 has dropped six ticks to 4,381. The DAX is down 13 points to 4,954.

Overnight in Asia, stocks were unable to escape the pull of U.S. selling, and they finished the week on the downside. The Nikkei dropped 102 points to 11,531. The Hang Seng shed 55 points to 11,646.

In M&A news, Bank of Montreal has picked up the self-directed online client accounts of Morgan Stanley’s Individual Investor Group for $167 million ($US106 million). It is expected to have nominal impact on cash earnings per share in year one and be accretive after that.

Also, Four Seasons Hotels Inc. reported its results for the first quarter. Net earnings decreased to $7.7 million, as compared to $17 million for the first quarter of 2001.

The board of directors of Van Houtte Inc. announced the appointment of Marc Fortier as president and chief executive officer of the company, effective June 6. Fortier managed the global activities of the Energy and Services division of the French-owned company Air Liquide from Paris and Houston. Prior to this, he was the CEO of Air Liquide Canada.