North American markets are likely to open flat Friday, with traders mulling over reports on U.S. personal spending and income and consumer sentiment, and Canadian gross domestic product.

In today’s economic news, GDP remained unchanged in February after a decline of 0.2% in January, Statistics Canada reported today.

Increased retail and real estate activity largely offset weaker utilities, wholesaling, and transportation services.

StatsCan said strong sales of cars and resurgence in the housing market boosted the output of the retail and real estate sectors. However, the agency said this growth was offset by the return to more seasonal weather and some strikes which pulled down the utilities and the transportation activity.

Canadian industrial production declined 0.3% as utilities output returned to more normal levels. Manufacturing output grew marginally, while mining gained ground.

South of the border, U.S. consumer spending grew in March but fell well short of economists’ expectations.

Personal consumption rose by 0.4% last month, the same as in February, the Commerce Department reported today. Personal income increased by 0.4%, following a revised 0.5% gain a month earlier.

Economists had expected spending to climb by 0.7% and for income to rise 0.4%.

Disposable personal income, or income after taxes, increased 0.4%.

Economists will get another reading on consumers later this morning when the University of Michigan will release its April consumer-sentiment index at 9:45 ET. The closely watched measure is expected to fall to 94 from its March reading of 95.8.

As well, the Chicago National Association of Purchasing Managers will report its April reading at 10:00 ET.

In Friday’s earnings news, Procter & Gamble said earnings jumped 20% in its fiscal third quarter, getting a large boost from its health and beauty divisions. The consumer-products company’s revenue rose 22% to US$13.03 billion.

Brascan Inc. said virtually all of its diversified holdings contributed strongly to a first-quarter profit of US$147 million, compared with US$56 million a year earlier.

In other business news, U.S.-based Citigroup has acquired a 97.5% stake in KorAm Bank, South Korea’s sixth largest lender, for about US$2.6 billion. The deal marks the largest foreign investment in South Korea’s financial sector, and the first takeover of a local bank by a foreign commercial lender.

Asian stock markets closed lower overnight.

Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 242.50 points, or 2.02%, to 11,761.79 amid speculation that authorities in the United States and China would raise interest rates to cool their economies.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 62.62 points, or 0.52%, to 11,942.96.

On Thursday, the S&P/TSX composite index ended down 2.92 points, at 8,231.93 on a volume of 294.7 million shares worth $3.96 billion.

The TSX Venture composite index was down 16.64 points to 1,647.27.

In New York, stocks dropped for a second straight session. The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 70.33 points to 10,272.27. The S&P 500 Index slid 8.52 points to 1,113.51. The Nasdaq composite index lost 30.76 points, or 1.55%, to 1,958.78.

After markets closed, Google Inc. filed its long-awaited IPO plans, setting the stage for the company to make its stock market debut, a move that could still be months away. Google said it hopes to raise US$2.7 billion with an IPO that’s created the biggest high-tech buzz since the dot-com bubble burst four years ago.