Stocks are poised to open higher this morning.

Tech stocks are looking improved as hopes resurface for a return to profits later this year.

Names such as JDS Uniphase Corp. and Juniper Networks Inc. are up in pre-market trading, and European techs are heading higher, too.

Energy stocks are looking higher as the price of crude oil jumps more than 1% to almost US$30 a barrel. U.S. inventories are reporting their steepest drop in more than two years, as imports have fallen.

The rest of the market is looking a little brighter too since U.S. retail sales were reported up 0.1% in May. Poor results from auto dealers and apparel stores were a drag on the results.

In Europe, stocks are up, led by the techs and telecoms. News that British Telecommunications plc will sell its U.K. property assets to cut debt and operating costs, is boosting that stock. An earnings warning from Lufthansa is weighing on that stock, however.

The euro is trading higher against the U.S. dollar today on hopes that the European Central Bank will move to defend the currency. Among the major indices, the FTSE is up 39 points to 5,842. The CAC 40 has gained 44 points to 5,356. The DAX has jumped 50 points to 6,109.

Overnight in Asia, stocks slipped a little. The Nikkei dropped 17 points to 12,823. The Hang Seng slid just three ticks to 13,523.

In other news, Statistics Canada is reporting a total government surplus of $25.7 billion for 2000/2001.

For a fourth consecutive year, the federal government posted a surplus; it recored a $9.1 billion surplus in 2000/2001.

Provincial and territorial governments recorded a surplus of $11.4 billion, up from $2.2 billion in 1999/2000. However, local governments posted a deficit of $443 million in 2000, down from a surplus of $2.5 billion in 1999.

On the business front, 724 Solutions Inc. is joining with Bank of America to launch a new, carrier-independent wireless service in Hong Kong.