TORONTO - The Toronto Stock Exchange closed higher Thursday despite a pullback on Wall Street amid a round of disappointing reports that suggested the U.S. economy is not recovering as much as some would like to believe. The S It was a different story on Wall Street, where the Dow Jones index retreated 42.47 points to 15,233.22 and the S

Asian shares were mixed on Thursday despite another record US stocks close and fresh data that showed Japan's economy grew faster than expected in the quarter to March. The dollar was little changed against the yen after investors adjusted positions on the greenback's recent surge, while the euro was weak on gloomy European growth data. Tokyo fell 0.39 percent, or 58.79 points, to 15,037.24, Sydney dropped 0.50 percent, or 26 points, to 5,165.7, while Seoul rose 0.79 percent, or 15.55 points, to 1,986.81.

TORONTO - The Canadian dollar headed lower Wednesday due to softening world markets and commodity prices, particularly copper. The loonie was down 0.05 of a cent to 98.28 cents US. The price of July copper dipped two cents to $3.27, signalling a weakening outlook for China and Europe and leaving the Canadian dollar vulnerable to more declines. The loonie was close to parity with the U.S. greenback last week. The June crude contract was down 98 cents to US$93.23 a barrel, while June gold bullion fell $29.60 to US$1,394.90 an ounce — its lowest price in a month.

TORONTO - North American markets closed higher Tuesday, building on the momentum of recent record highs as investors bet that the upward trend has not yet run its course. The S Both the Dow Jones industrial index and S "Markets, globally, in general are on the rise," said Gareth Watson, vice-president of the investment management group at Richardson GMP Ltd.