A quick look at stock futures this morning shows they're picking up steam: Dow , Nasdaq and S&P 500 stock futures are all on the rise.
In fact, with the exception of Shanghai, all the major stock markets around the world are broadly higher, for many reasons: Lower crude prices , strong economic data, talk that a Chinese company might take over Alcatel Lucent , and a statement from the Arab League that a Venezuelan proposal to end the Libyan conflict is under consideration.
And Canadian investors, your morning starts off with at least two dividend hikes: Toronto Dominion Bank and Canadian Natural Resources .
The bank has raised its dividend by five cents, or 8.2 per cent, to 66 cents per share, making it the first of the Big Five banks to bolster its payout. You can read more about its earnings here:
The oil and gas producer declared a dividend of nine cents a share, a 20 per cent increase from the previous quarter. More details here:
In Europe, data showed the euro zone's services economy enjoyed its fastest upturn since August 2007 in February. The numbers followed Wednesday's forecast-beating U.S. private sector jobs data and positive comments from the Federal Reserve in its latest Beige Book report.
Sonali Verma