Orders for durable goods, items expected to last at least three years, rose 3.3 per cent last month from March, the Commerce Department said Friday. That followed a 5.9 decline in March.

A measure of business investment plans increased 1.2 per cent after a 0.9 per cent gain in March. Companies ordered more machinery and electronic products last month, typically signs of confidence in the economy.

More spending by businesses could ease fears that manufacturing will weaken further this year and weigh on economic growth.

Factories had been seeing fewer orders earlier this year, in part because slower global growth had reduced demand for U.S. exports. Economists had also worried that across-the-board federal spending cuts and higher taxes might prompt businesses to cut back on orders.

The April increase pushed total orders to $222.6 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis. That is 6.5 per cent above the level of a year ago.

Orders for transportation goods gained 8.1 per cent, reflecting a 16.1 per cent jump in demand for commercial aircraft and a 53.3 per cent increase in orders for military aircraft. Orders for motor vehicles increased 1.9 per cent.

Excluding the volatile transportation category, orders rose 1.3 per cent in April. That followed a 1.7 per cent decline in March.

Still, other reports showed that factories continued to struggle in April.

The Institute for Supply Management reported factory activity barely expanded in April, held back by weaker hiring and less company stockpiling.

And manufacturing output dropped 0.4 per cent last month, the Federal Reserve reported earlier this month. Auto companies cranked out fewer cars, factories made fewer consumer goods and most other industries reduced output.

One bright spot for the economy has been the American consumer, who has shown surprising resilience this year despite paying higher Social Security taxes.

Consumer spending rose from January through March at the fastest pace in more than two years. Auto sales have been rising over the past year. And Americans boosted their spending at retailers in April, from cars and clothes to electronics and appliances.

A better job market and a sustained recovery in housing have helped soften some of the impact of the tax increase. Since November, employers have added an average 208,000 jobs a month. That’s up from just 138,000 jobs a month during the previous six months.

The overall economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5 per cent in the January-March quarter, buoyed by the fastest rise in consumer spending in more than two years. Many economists believe growth is slowing to around 2 per cent in the current April-June quarter and could stay near or slightly above that level for the rest of the year.

The Dow Jones industrial futures fell 46 points to 15,243, the Nasdaq futures drifted lower by 13.75 points to 2,978.50, while the S&P 500 futures index dipped 7.6 points to 1,642.40. The U.S. indexes will be closed Monday for the Memorial Day long weekend.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.42 of a cent to 96.72 cents US.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that durable goods orders for April rose 3.3 per cent, more than double what analysts had been predicting at 1.5 per cent.

The declines in the markets continued a day after global stocks were weighed down by fears over unexpectedly weak Chinese manufacturing numbers and worried that the U.S. Federal Reserve will start withdrawing its monetary stimulus.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, which plummeted more than 7 per cent Thursday, posted a big morning gain and then took investors on a dizzying ride into negative territory before closing 0.9 per cent higher at 14,612.45. The benchmark swung more than 1,000 points between the day’s high and low.

The Nikkei has been the best-performing major index this year, having risen around 45 per cent to five-year highs before Thursday’s drop. The index has been buoyed by aggressive monetary stimulus by the Bank of Japan, which has piled pressure on the yen.

Investor anxiety has also been prompted by speculation about when the U.S. Fed might start scaling back its bond-buying program.

The Fed is buying $85 billion worth of bonds every month as part of its stimulus program that has kept interest rates low and encouraged investors to put money into stocks and other risky assets. If the Fed slows down or ends its bond purchases, investors fear it could lead to an outpouring of money from stocks.

Earlier this week, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said that the central does not plan on doing this soon, but will consider it as early as next September.

In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was nearly unchanged at 6,695.82. Germany’s DAX rose 0.3 per cent to 8,378.07. France’s CAC-40 gained 0.5 per cent to 3,988.59.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.2 per cent to 1,973.45. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng bobbed between slight gains and losses before falling 0.2 per cent to 22,618.67.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 1.6 per cent to 4,983.50, hit by losses in banking and mining shares. Benchmarks in the Philippines, Taiwan and New Zealand also fell. Mainland Chinese shares rose, with the Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.6 per cent to 2,288.53, while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index rose 1.5 per cent to 1,029.3.

The commodities market continued see modest declines. The July crude contract was down 65 cents to US$93.60 a barrel, while June gold bullion lost 20 cents to US$1,391.60 an ounce. July copper was unchanged at US$3.30 a pound.

Meanwhile, Canada’s sixth-largest bank said it’s hiking its dividend and buying back some of its shares because its second-quarter profit beat analyst estimates by a wide margin.

National Bank (TSX:NA) said its adjusted earnings hit a record $369 million — up six per cent from the same time last year. That equalled $2.08 per share, a seven per cent increase from $1.95 per share in the same quarter last year.

Its net income also beat analyst estimates but was down year-to-year, due to an unusual $198-million gain that it recorded in the second quarter of its 2012 financial year.

The Montreal-based bank is the only bank expected to report earnings Friday. The majority of the institutions were set to release their results next week, while TD Canada Group (TSX:TD) reported Thursday that its profits were up two per cent from a year ago at $1.723 billion or $1.78 per share while adjusted earnings were $1.8 billion or $1.90 per common share.

Toronto Stock Exchange (12,658.09 down 94.41 points):

Surge Energy Inc. (TSX:SGY). Oil and gas. Up 36 cents, or 7.30 per cent, at $5.29 on 12.29 million shares.

Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX:K). Miner. Up 11 cents, or 1.86 per cent, at $6.02 on 5.78 million shares. The gold sector was the lone advancer on the main index, rising 0.41 per cent to 190.84 points as the price of bullion closed higher after five consecutive days of decline.

Osisko Mining Corp. (TSX:OSK). Miner. Up 10 cents, or 2.38 per cent, at $4.31 on 4.32 million shares.

B2Gold Corp. (TSX:BTO). Miner. Up six cents, or 2.67 per cent, at $2.31 on 3.91 million shares.

Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Oil and gas. Down 18 cents, or 0.55 per cent, at $32.32 on 3.56 million shares.

Yamana Gold Inc. (TSX:YRI). Miner. Up five cents, or 0.45 per cent, at $11.15 on 3.40 million shares.

Toronto Venture Exchange (942.05 down 0.04 point):

Mart Resources Inc. (TSXV:MMT). Oil and gas. Down five cents, or 3.40 per cent, at $1.42 on 6.50 million shares. Calgary-based Mart Resources’ first-quarter profit plunged nearly 95 per cent while revenue dropped nearly 70 per cent. The weaker results were due to “shutdowns that were far above normal” to its export pipeline.

Madalena Ventures Inc. (TSXV:MVN). Oil and gas. Down 1.5 cents, or 3.61 per cent, at 40 cents on 3.32 million shares.

Companies reporting major news:

Telus (TSX:T). Telecommuniucations. Down 41 cents, or 1.09 per cent, at $37.28 on 1.18 million shares. Debtholders of Mobilicity approved a plan to sell the company to one of Canada’s biggest wireless companies for $380 million, the first of several hurdles that must be overcome before the deal goes through.

TD Bank Group (TSX:TD). Bank. Down 39 cents, or 0.46 per cent, at $83.65 on 2.27 million shares. The bank reported second-quarter adjusted profits of $1.83 billion or $1.90 per diluted share, up from $1.74 billion or $1.82 per share a year ago, but still missed analyst expections by a penny per share. Total revenue was $6 billion versus $5.76 billion.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery fell three cents to close at US$94.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The price sank as low as $92.21 in the morning after weak manufacturing data from China raised questions about the strength of oil demand in the world’s No. 2 economy.

Global stock markets showed sharp declines amid indications that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s may pull back on its economic stimulus program. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index of shares fell 7.3 per cent.

But U.S. stocks recouped most of their losses by midday, with the Dow finishing the day down just 12.67 points at 15,269.93. Oil traders followed, at one point pushing oil to a small gain.

HSBC Corp. said a preliminary version of its monthly purchasing managers’ index fell to 49.6 for May from 50.4 in April. Numbers below 50 indicate contraction. That sank oil prices because a downturn in energy-hungry China would likely lead to a decline in crude demand.

Ample U.S. supplies of crude oil and refined products such as gasoline continue to weigh on oil prices, even as the summer driving season gets underway in the U.S. with Memorial Day weekend.

“Ahead of the start of the summer driving season, (gasoline) stocks are six per cent up on the long-term average and 10 per cent higher than last year’s level,” said a report from Commerzbank.

Brent crude, a benchmark for many international oil varieties, fell 16 cents to US$102.44 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex, wholesale gasoline rose one cent to US$2.83 a U.S. gallon (3.79 litres), heating oil lost one cent to US$2.86 a gallon, and natural gas rose eight cents to US$4.26 per 1,000 cubic feet.

(TSX:ECA), (TSX:IMO), (TSX:SU), (TSX:HSE), (NYSE:BP), (NYSE:COP), (NYSE:XOM), (NYSE:CVX), (TSX:CNQ), (TSX:TLM), (TSX:COS.UN), (TSX:CVE)

Jamie Baillie is looking for Nova Scotians to give their thoughts on selling beer and wine in grocery stores.

“The Nova Scotia Liquor Cooperation isn’t operating in an efficient way,” Baillie told the Rick Howe Show. “They’ve doubled their operating expenses in the last ten years, while the volume they sell hasn’t gone up at the same rate. They’ve become less efficient. Their justification of being in government hands is that their profits get into health and education.”

Baillie says selling liquor in the private sector is a modern move that the province needs to make.

The operator of Sears and Kmart stores also says it is considering putting its service-agreement business up for sale to raise cash.

The Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based company says it lost $279 million, or $2.63 per share for the period. That compares with a profit of $189 million, or $1.78 per share, a year earlier.

Not including one-time items, the company said it lost $1.29 per share, worse than the 60 cents per share analysts expected.

Revenue fell 9 per cent to $8.45 billion, above the $8.37 billion Wall Street expected.

The news comes more than three months after hedge fund billionaire Eddie Lampert took over as CEO.

The S-and-P/T-S-X composite index lost 94.41 points to 12,658.09.

Volume at 4:15 p.m. Eastern Time was 302.91 (m) million shares.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 12.67 points to 15,294.50.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 slipped 4.84 points to 1,650.51.

In the New York Mercantile Exchange, the gold futures contract for June jumped 24 dollars, 40 cents U-S to 1,391 dollars, 80 cents an ounce.

The July crude contract dipped three cents U-S to 94 dollars, 25 cents per barrel.

(The Canadian Press, The Associated Press)

—

JDT

Jurors sided with the real estate mogul-turned-TV showman in a weeklong civil trial focused on Jacqueline Goldberg’s claim that Trump cheated her in a condo bait-and-switch scheme.

The federal jury in Chicago returned with a finding in Trump’s favour. Goldberg, of Evanston, had sought various damages totalling around $6 million.

Goldberg herself showed little emotion but her attorney, Shelly Kulwin, slumped over and buried his head on a courtroom table. Trump’s attorney Stephen Novack smiled and nodded his head in gratitude at the jury.

The case pitted the suburban Chicago woman against a New Yorker who revels in his image as a big talker with big ideas. Many know him best for his catchphrase on his “Apprentice” TV show: “You’re fired!”

In sarcasm-filled closings, Kulwin described Trump in stark, extreme terms — as villainous and greedy. Trump wasn’t in court, but Kulwin displayed a giant photograph of Trump.

“The thought of my grandma being in the same room with that guy. Yuck!” Kulwin boomed.

The dispute centred on the glitzy Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago, one of several showcase towers Trump has named after himself elsewhere, including New York, Las Vegas and Hawaii.

Goldberg accused Trump of wooing her into buying two condos at $1 million apiece in the mid-2000s by dangling a promise of share in building profits — then reneging on the promise after she committed to buying.

At trial, Novack grappled with the portrayal of Goldberg as a former waitress and hat-check girl who learned her values living through the Depression and working her way through college.

He told jurors in his closing he also loved grandmothers, saying, “I happen to be married to one.”

But, he added, Goldberg was also a sophisticated, detail-oriented investor who signed a contract stipulating Trump could do what he did: cancel the profit-sharing plan anytime he saw fit.

An often-scowling Trump spent two days testifying himself, bragging about the quality of his developments, verbally sparring with an opposing attorney and drawing rebukes from the judge.

On the stand, Trump denied he ever cheated anyone. Off it, he blasted the woman who brought him there, telling reporters he was the victim, not her. He declared, “She’s trying to rip me off.”

Goldberg isn’t the first to complain about a Trump development.

Dozens of investors in the Las Vegas’ five-year-old Trump International Hotel & Tower sued Trump, alleging he manufactured “a purchasing frenzy” to get them to buy in before the property market collapsed.

An arbiter, though, sided with Trump in 2011, and U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro in Las Vegas later refused the disgruntled investors’ request to nullify the arbitration finding.

When Goldberg took the stand herself after Trump, she told jurors she initially had qualms about suing such an influential figure. But she added, “Somebody had to stand up to him.”

Goldberg told jurors it was Trump’s very star power that initially drew her toward investing with him. But it was the profit-sharing proposal that, for her, sealed the deal, she said.

During his testimony, Trump kept talking over Kulwin while Kulwin kept rolling his eyes at Trump’s answers, prompting Judge Amy St. Eve to order both men to “stop boxing each other” and behave.

Trump’s testimony offered a rare inside look at the business style of the 66-year-old who scrutinizes the competence of contestants carrying out management tasks on his TV show.

He told jurors that he signed every business check in his organization. He also said he couldn’t remember when key business decisions were made because he and his top executives aren’t in the habit of taking notes.

City pride also intervened at one point in closings when Kulwin made an unfavourable reference to executives in New York.

“Judge, he’s mocking New York,” Trump’s attorney said, standing to object.

“I can’t mock New York?” Kulwin shot back. “I thought it was every Chicagoans right to do that.”

___

Follow Michael Tarm at http://www.twitter.com/mtarm .

The company announced Thursday that it had begun taking pre-orders for two versions of the Kindle Fire HD in Canada.

A seven-inch model with 16 gigabytes of storage sells for $214 while a 8.9-inch unit with 16 gigabytes of storage is $284.

Tablets with 32 gigabytes of storage are also available for an extra $30.

The products are set to begin shipping on June 13.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 10 points at 15,297 as of noon (1600 GMT), a loss of 0.1 per cent. It had been down 127 points in the early going following steep losses in European and Japanese markets.

Traders attributed the early swoon on Wall Street and in overseas markets to the slowdown in China’s economic engine and worries among investors that the Federal Reserve may ease back on its economic stimulus program.

The Dow is still up 16.7 per cent this year.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 fell five points to 1,650, or 0.3 per cent. The Nasdaq composite fell five points to 3,457, or 0.2 per cent.