Canadian investors are waking up to mixed bag of news on wholesale and retails sales. Despite the poor economic news in Canada, Wall Street futures are looking positive and so are European markets.

Statistics Canada says that in September, wholesalers sold goods and services worth $36.6 billion, an increase of 6.1%. All trade groups posted an increase.

However, says StatsCan, only six of the nine trade groups that lost ground last month as a result of the blackout bounced back. Sales have been very volatile the last few months. In August, wholesalers saw their sales decline 4.1%. Ontario wholesalers bore the brunt of the decline, as a result of manufacturing production stoppages due to the blackout in Ontario and part of the United States.

Ontario accounts for approximately half of Canadian wholesale sales. With their activities returning to normal in September, Ontario wholesalers posted an 8.7% increase in sales, which greatly contributed to the rise at the national level. Excluding Ontario, wholesale sales would have increased 3.6%.

In another report, StstsCan says consumer spending in retail stores fell 0.8% in September to $26.4 billion, the first decline in five months. This followed a 0.3% sales increase in August. Despite September’s decline, retail sales advanced 1.1% in the third quarter, after remaining essentially unchanged in the second (-0.1%). Previously, retail sales had been generally increasing since the fall of 2001.

The FTSE 100 index is up 1.2% at midday in London, rising 49.6 points to 4,368.6. Frankfurt has gained 1.9%. Paris is up 1%.

Tokyo’s market was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged up 8.76 points to 11,848.56.

Slumping health care stocks dragged the TSX lower on Friday, while U.S. markets recorded gains. The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 26.19 points to close at 7783.59. It ended up 0.4% on the week.

On Wall Street, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index closed up 11.96 points at 1,893.88, while the broad S&P 500 index climbed 1.63 points, to 1,035.28. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average rose 9.11 points to 9,628.53.

However, for the second week in a row the major stock indexes ended lower. The Dow and S&P 500 fell 1.4 %, while the Nasdaq fell 1.9%.