The Canadian Press

The Canadian dollar was lower Friday morning after Statistics Canada reported that the economy contracted during July.

The agency reported gross domestic product shrank by 0.1%, against expectations for a 0.1% rise.

The disappointing showing followed a flat performance in July and Statistics Canada said it was largely due to slides in oil-and-gas extraction and manufacturing. Wholesale trade, agriculture and forestry also retreated, while the public sector, utilities, retail trade and construction were up.

The loonie was down 0.58 cent to US93.14¢.

Meanwhile, North American stock markets appeared to be heading for a lower open a day after registering solid gains in the wake of news that the American economy grew in the third quarter for the first time since early 2008.

The Dow Jones futures were 23 points lower to 9,880, the Nasdaq futures lost 0.5 point to 1,707 while the S&P 500 futures were down 2.8 points to 1,057.6.

Lower commodity prices could also weigh on the Toronto market following strong gains in oil and metal prices Thursday.

The December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange lost 49¢ to US$79.38 after jumping almost US$2.50 Thursday.

The December bullion contract on the Nymex lost $3.50 to US$1,043.60 an ounce while December copper shed 3¢ to US$3 a pound.

Investors were relieved by the report showing the U.S. economy grew at 3.5% in the third quarter, but much of that growth was fuelled by government stimulus programs. With those programs winding down, the economy might not be able to sustain such rapid improvement after the economy shrank for four straight quarters.

In U.S. economic news Friday morning, the Commerce Department said U.S. consumer spending dropped 0.5% in September, which matched economists’ expectations. Personal incomes were unchanged as workers contend with rising unemployment and a squeeze on wages.

Canadian investors have plenty of fresh earnings reports to consider.

Imperial Oil Ltd. (TSX:IMO) reported after Thursday’s market close that quarterly profits fell 61% from a year ago, when oil and natural gas prices were much higher. The energy producer and oil refiner earned $547 million, versus nearly $1.4 billion booked a year earlier.

That worked out to a profit of 64¢ per share, compared with $1.57 in 2008. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were on average expecting earnings per share of 58¢.

Operating revenues were $5.55 billion, down from $9.5 billion.

IGM Financial Inc. (TSX:IGM) reported third-quarter profit dropped to $167.4 million from $198.7 million a year ago as revenues slipped. IGM Financial, a member of the Power Financial group of companies, operates under the Investors Group, Mackenzie Financial and Investment Planning Counsel banners.

Eldorado Gold Corp. (TSX:ELD) reported a third-quarter profit of US$30.2 million, up from a year ago, as the company increased gold sales. The Vancouver-based gold miner earned US$30.2 million for the quarter compared with a profit of $17 million a year ago. Revenue totalled $82.6 million, up from $68.2 million.

Overseas, Asian stock markets snapped three days of losses following the U.S. GDP report, spurring hopes of improved demand for the region’s exports.

Major benchmarks from Tokyo to Sydney gained 1.5% while a few markets failed to hold their gains and ended slightly down.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.3% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average gained 1.5%.

London’s FTSE 100 index added 0.2%, Frankfurt’s DAX dipped 0.45% and the Paris CAC 40 was off 0.28%.

In other corporate news, Husky Energy Inc. (TSX:HSE) says it has completed and tested two promising exploratory wells to evaluate the shale gas potential in the Montney and Doig formations in northeastern British Columbia. Huskey said late Thursday the drilling results were “very encouraging.”

Shares in Canada’s three big telecoms — Rogers, (TSX:RCI.B), Bell (TSX:BCE) and Telus (TSX:T) — will be in focus after the CRTC ruled Thursday that Toronto-based Globalive isn’t Canadian enough to compete as a new national cellphone company. The broadcast regulator said Globalive doesn’t meet the Canadian ownership and control requirements to operate as a telecommunications carrier.