With U.S. financial markets closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, Canadian investors will focus their attention on the federal economic and fiscal update.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will deliver his presentation in Ottawa at 16:00 ET, after markets close. The government has already indicated that there won’t be any big spending announcements in the update.

There are no major economic announcements from Statistics Canada today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US81.47¢, up 0.18 cent.

In commodities news, light sweet crude oil is down $1.38 at US$52.62 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In business news, ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, is planning “voluntary separation programs to be launched across the group,” aiming to trim as many as 9,000 employees — 3% of its global workforce. The firm’s holdings include Dofasco of Hamilton, Ont.

Overseas stock markets are solid, after Wall Street and the Toronto market posted a fourth straight positive session Wednesday.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 2%, and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 1.4%.

Indian markets were closed after deadly terrorist attacks in the country’s financial capital of Mumbai.

In Europe, the US FTSE 100 index was up 1.3% early in the afternoon. The German DAX advanced 1.7% and the Paris CAC-40 gained 1.3%.

On Wednesday, strength in commodities helped the Toronto Stock Exchange’s benchmark index swing back from triple-digit point losses early in the day to close with gains of more than 200 points.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 200.66 points, or 2.38%, at 8,643.52. It was the index’s fourth consecutive day of gains.

The telecommunications group was the only main group on the TSX to move lower, down 10.5% by Wednesday’s close. The drop was led by a 34.2% plunge for BCE Inc. shares, which were slammed by news that the company’s privatization is now in doubt. BCE shares closed down $13.10, at $25.25.

The S&P/TSX Venture index rose 11.43 points, or 1.6% at 731.39.

The main indexes in New York enjoyed a fourth day of gains as well.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 8,726.61, up 247 points, or 2.9%. The Nasdaq composite index rose 67.37 points, or 4.6%, to end the day at 1,532.1. The S&P 500 index increased by 30.29 points, or 3.5%, to finish at 887.68.

IE