Stocks appear set to rise on the open today, driven by some positive corporate news, and over the objections of negative economic data. Techs are leading the way higher after both Qualcomm Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. indicated that demand for their products is rising from mobile phone makers.

European mobile phone firms are also stronger despite news that Nokia Oyj warned that first quarter demand could be softening.

In earnings news, Eli Lilly & Co. reported 28% higher profits in its latest quarter. However, AT&T had a US $611 million loss due to large writedowns of its investments and its Latin American assets.

In economic news, U.S. jobless claims reversed their recent down trend to rise by 18,000 last week. Overall, claims remain below the key 400,000 level at 381,000. The numbers suggest that the U.S. recovery isn’t spilling over to the jobs market just yet.

In Canada, retail sales reportedly dropped 0.6% in November to $25.8 billion. This partly retraces a 1.6% gain in October. Automobile and clothing purchases were down after a spending spree in the previous month, Statistics Canada reports.

StatsCan also said that foreign investors bought $5 billion of Canadian securities in November, their largest investment in a year. Canadian investors bought heavily into both foreign bonds and stocks.

European stocks are making gains this morning on trader optimism over the fortunes of the mobile phone business. The FTSE is 16 points higher at 3,694. The CAC 40 has gained 15 ticks to 2,946. The DAX has added 35 points to 2,837.

Overnight in Asia, stocks were also stronger, with the Nikkei closing 180 points higher at 8,791. The Hang Seng gained just 24 points to finish at 9,585.

In M&A news, Novartis AG is buying a chunk of rival Roche Holding AG for US$2.1 billion, giving it almost 33% of the firm.

On the earnings front, Burlington Resources announced fourth-quarter 2002 earnings of $157 million, compared to a prior-year fourth-quarter loss of $79 million.

QLT Inc. reported that its alliance partner, Novartis, announced global Visudyne sales of approximately US$77 million for the quarter and US$287.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2002. Visudyne sales for the fourth quarter and the full year were ahead of analysts’ consensus estimates and represent increases of 25% and 29% over sales in the fourth quarter and annual sales in 2001 respectively.