(April 5 – 09:00 ET) – Stocks are pointing to a strong opening rally this morning. Both European market activity and U.S. futures indicate a decisive open to the upside, with techs and the broader market joining in the action.

Stocks in the United States received a boost after Dell Computer Corp. turned the tide of tech pessimism by sticking to its sales and profit forecast for this quarter. All the boxmakers, including Compaq Computer Corp., Apple Computer Inc. and IBM are rallying.

The Internet sector is up, too, after Lehman Brothers analyst Holly Becker raised her rating on Yahoo! Inc. and said “the worst is over” for the stock. With the positive talk, chips and much of the rest of the techs are up.

In economic news, the Bank of England cut its rate by 25 basis points to 5.5%.This second cut this year comes as evidence builds that the U.S. slowdown is crossing the Atlantic.

In the wake of this, the FTSE is up 69 points to 5,605. In Paris, the CAC 40 has gained 77 points to 5,149. Germany’s DAX is up 130 points to 5,728.

Overnight in Asia, the Hong Kong market was closed, but the Japanese Nikkei rose. The yen was up, too, after comments suggesting the government may defend the currency. The Nikkei closed up 139 points to 13,381.

In M&A news, it’s being reported that British Telecommunications plc may sell its directory services unit, in an effort to meet its US$14 billion debt reduction target for this year.

Suiza Foods Corp., the largest U.S. milk producer, is buying dairy Dean Foods Co. for about US$2.5 billion in cash, stock and debt.

In Canada, the value of building permits issued in February declined by 9.1% from January to $3.4 billion, as construction intentions in the non-residential sector slipped.