Stocks should get a slight boost from economic reports on both sides of the border this morning.

Statistics Canada is reporting that the composite leading index rose 0.6% in January, following increases of about 0.8% over the previous four months.

Manufacturing took the lead in growth, after struggling through most of last year, says StatsCan. That turnaround was helped by the upturn in the U.S. economy, which also was evident a further improvement in the leading indicator for the United States. Overall six of the ten components rose, one less than in December.

Demand for investment and exports led a rapid upswing in the trend of new orders as well as the ratio of shipments to stocks of finished goods, says StatsCan. Manufacturers extended their workweek for a third straight month, the longest such string since April 2000. The improved outlook for business continued to be reflected in the stock market, which rose further in January after a 25% gain in 2003.

In the U.S., initial jobless claims fell by the largest amount in nearly two months last week, says the Labour Department. The downside is that other data shows workers are having a difficult time getting back into the workforce. First-time applications for unemployment benefits dropped by 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 344,000 last week. Economists had expected a more modest decline of 9,000.

However, laid-off workers continue to have a hard time finding jobs. Continuing claims for unemployment benefits surged by 106,000 to a six-week high of 3,186,000 — the biggest gain since the week of Feb. 8, 2003.

In London at midday, the FTSE100 Share Index is up 51.7 points, or 1.2%, to 4,494.60. The Paris CAC40 Index has risen 29.79 points, or 0.8%, to 3,738.81. In Frankfurt, the Xetra DAX Index has gained 33.49 points, or 0.8%, albeit in low volumes.

In Asia, the Nikkei Average ended up 76.99 points, or 0.72%, at 10,753.80 points. The market also was upbeat about the debut of Shinsei Bank, successor to the temporarily nationalized Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan. It’s the first Japanese bank to be bought and turned around by foreign investors.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong shares closed lower on profit-taking as the market approached near-three-year highs recently, with heavyweight HSBC leading the decline. HSBC fell 1.2% after climbing to a record high on Wednesday.

On Wednesday Toronto’s S&P/TSX composite index fell 49.27 points, or 0.56%, to 8,717.83 on a volume of 310.7 million shares worth $3.9 billion. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 42.89 points, or 0.4%, to 10,671.99 points. The Nasdaq composite index lost 3.99 points, or 0.2%, to 2,076.47 points.