Stocks look set to rise on the open this morning, as enthusiasm for the economic recovery rolls on.

Positive economic news is particularly favouring tech stocks, with names such as IBM, Sun and EMC rallying in the pre-market.

In economic news, U.S. fourth-quarter productivity rose 5.2% and labour cost was reported down 2.7% for the period. U.S. productivity growth was only just over 1% in the previous quarter. Again, this is supportive news for recovery.

In Canada, the Help-wanted Index came in at 124 in February, nearly unchanged (-0.8%) for the second straight month after eight consecutive months of declines. Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia saw no change; an increase in Newfoundland and Labrador was offset by small declines in the other provinces. Compared with February 2001, the national index was down 26.6%.

Also in the U.S., initial jobless claims dropped by 5,000 to 376,000 last week. This marks the fourth drop in five weeks, and is more good news for economy watchers.

In Europe, stocks are rallying strongly on recovery hopes. Both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England left their interest rates unchanged this morning. The FTSE is up 57 points to 5,302. The CAC 40 has added 76 points to 4,664. The DAX is up 80 points to 5,365.

Overnight in Asia, stocks were also bouncing back. The Nikkei gained another 290 points to 11,648. The Hang Seng added 185 points to close at 11,188.

In M&A news, Imperial Tobacco plc is buying Germany’s Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbHfor US$4.6 billion in cash.

Publicis Groupe SA is buying Bcom3, the owner of the Leo Burnett Worldwide Inc. ad agency for about US$3 billion.

In other news, Canadian 88 reported fourth quarter net earnings of $15.3 million and cash flow of $9.1 million. Fourth quarter revenue of $21.2 million was off substantially from $50.6 million for the same period a year earlier, reflecting significantly lower commodity prices and the absence of volume.

Finally, shares of Sepracor Inc. are getting hammered on the news that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will not approve its Soltara allergy drug.