Wall Street index futures rose Thursday, despite the release of sobering economic data.

U.S. initial claims for state unemployment benefits climbed 8,000 to 652,000 last week and total claims rose to a record high over 5.5 million.

Separately, a final reading showed the economy shrank at a revised 6.3% annual rate in the fourth quarter of last year, a hair faster than the 6.2% rate in the last reading.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar opened at US81.40¢, unchanged from Wednesday’s close.

Later today, Ontario’s finance minister Dwight Duncan is expected to table a budget that includes plans to harmonize the 8% provincial sales tax with the 5% federal goods and services tax.

The budget is set to result in a combined deficit of roughly $18 billion over two years, Duncan said earlier this month.

In commodities news, oil prices rose 89¢ to US$53.66 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 1.8%.

In afternoon trading, the UK’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2%, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.7%, and France’s CAC-40 slipped 0.1%.

Canadian equities erased early gains to finish lower on Wednesday as financial stocks took a mid-afternoon tumble.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 51.95 points, or 0.6%, to close at 8,797.44.

Financial stocks gave up gains to finish down 1.6%.

Junior companies maintained their momentum throughout the day, sending the S&P/TSX Venture composite index up 24.75 points, or 2.7%, to 949.04.

In contrast to Canadian market patterns, financial stocks in the United States experienced strength and carried the main U.S. stock indexes higher in late day trading on Wednesday.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 89.84 points, or 1.2%, to end at 7,749.81.

The S&P 500 index added 7.63 points, or 1%, to finish at 813.88.

The Nasdaq composite advanced 12.43 points, or 0.8%, to 1,528.95.

IE