NEW YORK – Unions lent their muscle to the long-running protest against Wall Street and economic inequality Wednesday, fueling speculation about how long the camp-out in lower Manhattan — and related demonstrations around the country — will continue.

Thousands of protesters, including many in union T-shirts, filled lower Manhattan’s Foley Square on Wednesday and then marched to Zuccotti Park, where the protesters have been camping since Sept. 17. Labor leaders say they will continue to support the protests, both with manpower and donations of goods and services.

“The great thing about Occupy Wall Street is that they have brought the focus of the entire country on the middle class majority,” said George Aldro, 62, a member of Local 2325 of the United Auto Workers, as he carried the union’s blue flag over his shoulder through lower Manhattan.

“We’re in it together, and we’re in it for the long haul.”

The protesters have varied causes but have spoken largely about unemployment and economic inequality, reserving most of their criticism for Wall Street. “We are the 99 percent,” they chanted, contrasting themselves with the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.

Ed Figueroa, a janitor in a public school in the Bronx and a shop steward with Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, said the march was “the first time in these weeks that unions have shown their face.”

“But it won’t be the last time,” he said. “We’ll be back.”

The unions were donating food, blankets and office space to the protesters, said Dan Cantor, head of the Working Families Party. But he said the young protesters would continue to head their own efforts. The movement lacks an identified leader and decisions are made during group meetings.

“They’re giving more to us than we’re giving to them. They’re a shot in the arm to everybody,” Cantor said.

“The labor movement is following the youth of America today and that’s a good thing.”

Victor Rivera, a vice-president for the powerful 1199 Service Employees International Union, which represents health care workers, said the union had donated “all the food they need for this entire week” to the Zuccotti Park campers. Union leaders had also assigned liaisons from their political action committee to work with demonstrators.

“We are here to support this movement against Wall Street’s greed,” he said. “We support the idea that the rich should pay their fair share.”

Late Wednesday, some demonstrators marched toward the New York Stock Exchange but were stopped by police about two blocks away. Police said about 28 arrests were made, mostly for disorderly conduct. One person was arrested for assaulting an officer; police said the officer was pushed off his scooter.

The Occupy Wall Street protests started Sept. 17 with a few dozen demonstrators who tried to pitch tents in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Since then, hundreds have set up camp nearby in Zuccotti Park and have become increasingly organized, lining up medical aid and legal help and printing their own newspaper.

On Saturday, about 700 people were arrested and given disorderly conduct summonses for spilling into the roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge despite warnings from police. A group of those arrested filed a lawsuit Tuesday, saying officers lured them into a trap before arresting them.

Several Democratic lawmakers have expressed support for the protesters, but some Republican presidential candidates have rebuked them. Herman Cain called the activists “un-American” Wednesday at a book signing in St. Petersburg, Fla.

“They’re basically saying that somehow the government is supposed to take from those that have succeeded and give to those who want to protest,” the former pizza-company executive said. “That’s not the way America was built.”

On Tuesday, CBS reported that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney called the protest “class warfare” at an appearance at a Florida retirement community.

Activists have been showing solidarity with the movement in many cities: Occupy Providence. Occupy Los Angeles. Occupy Boise. More protests and sit-ins are planned across the country in the days ahead.

On Wednesday, more than 100 people withstood an afternoon downpour in Idaho’s capital to protest, including Judy Taylor, a retired property manager.

“I want change. I’m tired of things being taken away from those that need help,” she said.

In Seattle, demonstrators tussled with police officers and clung to tents as they defied orders to leave a park. Police said they made 25 arrests. The reception was warmer in Los Angeles, where the City Council approved a resolution of support and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s office distributed 100 rain ponchos to activists at another days-long demonstration, according to City News Service.

In Boston, hundreds of nurses and Northeastern University students rallied together to condemn what they called corporate control of government and the spiraling costs of education. The students banged on drums made of water jugs and chanted, “Banks got bailed out, and we got sold out.”

“This is an organic process. This is a process of grassroots people coming together. It’s a beautiful thing,” said David Schildmeier, spokesman for the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

Many of those protesting are college students. Hundreds walked out of classes in New York, some in a show of solidarity for the Wall Street movement but many more concerned with worries closer to home. Protests were scheduled at State University of New York campuses including Albany, Buffalo, Binghamton, New Paltz and Purchase.

Danielle Kingsbury, a 21-year-old senior from New Paltz, said she walked out of an American literature class to show support for some of her professors who she said have had their workloads increased because of budget cuts.

“The state of education in our country is ridiculous,” said Kingsbury, who plans to teach. “The state doesn’t care about it and we need to fight back about that.”

___

Associated Press writers Verena Dobnik in New York City, Mark Pratt in Boston, Chris Carola in New Paltz, N.Y., Tamara Lush in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Justin Pope in Ann Arbor, Mich., contributed to this report.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Toronto’s main stock index ended almost unchanged on Thursday as the materials and energy groups offset one another and as market players absorbed another wave of corporate results.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index unofficially ended up 1.83 points at 13,894.40.

Early on, gold and some mining issues were the main source of support for the index, while oil and gas shares were the primary drag. They switched places by the end of the session.

(Reporting by Ka Yan Ng; editing by Rob Wilson)

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks rose on Monday, lifted by natural resource shares on bets on global growth and a share-buyback plan by Intel that added to the allure of the large-cap technology sector.

Intel Corp (INTC.O) raised its dividend by 15 percent and authorized another $10 billion for stock repurchases, a sign larger technology companies with slower growth may be looking for ways to reward investors.

Intel added 1.6 percent to $21.15, and International Business Machines (IBM.N), which rose 2.1 percent to $158.70, hit a fresh lifetime high and led gains on the Dow industrials.

“The Intel news is part of what’s helping some of the big technology stocks do well today,” said Howard Ward, portfolio manager of the GAMCO Growth Fund in Rye, New York.

He said investors may be looking at other companies that have used buybacks to compensate investors. “Part of the IBM (growth) story is excess cash flow being used to buy back stock.”

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) gained 88.06 points, or 0.74 percent, to 11,959.90. The Standard & Poor’s 500 (.SPX) rose 6.71 points, or 0.52 percent, to 1,290.06. The Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 25.61 points, or 0.95 percent, to 2,715.15.

The S&P materials sector (.GSPM) advanced 1.4 percent. Copper prices rose as concerns about a decrease in Chinese demand were replaced by worries over supply constraints.

“It’s very difficult to ignore the positive implications for earnings in material stocks when the global economy is gaining traction,” Ward said.

The chief executive of Alcoa Inc (AA.N) said he sees continued demand for aluminum in 2011, and the Dow component’s shares gained 4.3 percent to $16.48.

Further boosting the technology sector, Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) jumped 11.9 percent to $24.86 after Barron’s said the chipmaker’s stock could nearly double in price this year.

Paper and packaging stocks rallied a day after Rock Tenn Co (RKT.N) said it would buy Smurfit-Stone Container Corp (SSCC.N) for $3.5 billion.

Rock-Tenn jumped 4 percent to $59.46 and Smurfit-Stone soared 27.2 percent to $35. International Paper (IP.N) gained 3.7 percent to $28.93 after hitting its highest since September 2008 at $29.64.

J.C. Penney Co Inc (JCP.N) shares jumped 7.1 percent to $32.50 on news activist investor William Ackman will join the department store operator’s board next month, heading off a potential fight over the direction of its turnaround.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

TORONTO (Reuters) – Toronto’s main stock index finished higher for the first time this year on Tuesday, surging more than 1 percent as resource issues rallied along with commodity prices.

Oil and copper prices both rose 2 percent and gold prices firmed, spurring a triple-digit gain for the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index.

After falling for five straight sessions, the index finished up 155.93 points, or 1.18 percent, at 13,401.05. Eight of its 10 main groups rose with the materials and oil and gas sectors leading the way with advances of 1.65 percent and 1.97 percent, respectively.

Utilities were the lone decliner with a 0.15 percent dip. Consumer staples ended unchanged.

Key advancers included Teck Resources, which added 4.3 percent to C$63.11, Imperial Oil, up 3.84 percent at C$40.84, and Royal Bank of Canada, which rose 1.68 percent to C$52.56.

Analysts said the prospect of solid corporate earnings was giving stock-market investors the room to look past euro-zone debt concerns for the time being.

“It’s just an overall buoyant environment of news,” said Brian Pow, vice president of research and equity analyst at Acumen Capital Partners in Calgary.

“People are shrugging off what’s going on in Europe in terms of what’s going on with the debt problems there and (are) just focusing in on corporate earnings and corporate performance,” he said.

Pow pointed to a strong kickoff to the U.S. earnings season with Alcoa Inc reporting a forecast-beating quarterly profit, as well as indications that corporations are more confident about the future and are declaring dividends.

(Reporting by Ka Yan Ng; editing by Peter Galloway)

TORONTO (Reuters) – Toronto’s main stock index fell for a fourth straight session on Friday, extending its 2011 losses as lower commodity prices and a fire in the Alberta oil sands pulled down oil and other resource shares.

Oil company Canadian Natural Resources fell 5.47 percent to C$40.60 after a fire late on Thursday halted production at its 110,000-barrel-a-day oil sands project.

The energy group, which accounts for more than a quarter of the index, led declines, dropping 1.1 percent as U.S. crude oil futures ended the first week of the year with the biggest weekly percentage loss in nearly five months.

Suncor Energy, Canada’s biggest oil company, was off 0.43 percent at C$36.98.

The index’s materials group, home to gold miners, fell 0.64 percent. Goldcorp was down 1.02 percent at C$42.50, while Barrick Gold declined 0.77 percent to C$48.69.

Gold prices suffered their longest losing streak in seven months, sliding more than 3 percent this week and falling for a fifth day on Friday after U.S. December jobs data failed to spark safe-haven demand.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended down 39.37 points, or 0.3 percent, at 13,272.30. For the week, the index fell 1.27 percent.

“We’re under a little bit of pressure today, but I don’t think it’s anything disastrous,” said Fred Ketchen, director of equity trading at ScotiaMcLeod.

“In the U.S., significant disappointment continues to plague their economy…problems in the United States continue and we need to be aware of the fallout that will continue to come from our southern neighbors.”

Tempering the index’s losses was a 0.37 percent gain in financial issues, which got a lift from data that showed the Canadian economy created more jobs than expected in December.

Royal Bank of Canada was up 0.79 percent at C$52.02, while Bank of Nova Scotia gained 0.68 percent to close at C$56.25. Toronto Dominion Bank rose 0.51 percent to C$74.20

“There are a couple of factors that might be creeping in on the back of today’s data to impede gains in the short term: those would be the stronger loonie and concerns about potential rate hikes by the Bank of Canada in the months ahead,” said Elvis Picardo, analyst and strategist at Global Securities.

“You couple that with the fact that we’ve had an exceptional run since December and it’s not surprising to see a minor selloff.”

A Reuters poll on Friday showed most of Canada’s primary securities dealers expect the Bank of Canada to resume raising interest rates in the first half of this year.

In individual company news, pharmacy chain Jean Coutu Group, which reported a higher quarterly profit that topped expectations, fell 0.93 percent to C$9.57. The company said it will feel the first impact of Quebec’s drug sales reform initiatives this quarter.

(Reporting by Solarina Ho; editing by Peter Galloway)